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WARRICK 



AND ITS 



PROMINENT PEOPLE. 



«»» ■ tm » »» 



A History of Warrick County, Indiana, from the time of its organ- 
ization and settlement, with Biographical Sketches of 
some of its Prominent People of the past and present 



EDITED BY 



WILL FORTUNE 



1831. 



TO THE PATRONS, 

Whose aid has encouraged the prosecution of this work, 
THIS VOLUME 

IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED. 

*0f 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE COURIER COMPANY 

KVANSVILLE, INDIANA. 









Contents. 



HISTORICAL PART. 

PAGE 

Anderson township I s 

Boonville 21 

Boon township 1^ 

County Courts 4-> 

Campbell township l y 

Company E, 120th Regiment Indiana Volunteers 49 

Company E, 65th Regiment Indiana Volunteers 67 

Company I, 25th Regiment Indiana Volunteers 51 

Company I, 53d Regiment Indiana Volunteers 53 

Company K, 42d Regiment Indiana Volunteers 64 

Company H, 25th Regiment Indiana Volunteers 69 

Darlington ' "' 

Early Enterprises 39 

Folsomville ^ 

Greer^ Township 19 

Hart Township 19 

Lane Township 19 

Lynnville 37 

Millersburgh - 36 

Newlmrgh 31 

Ohio Township 20 

Owen Township • 20 

Primitive Inhabitants, Incidents of 9 

Pigeon Township 20 

Selvin 38 

Skelton Township 20 

Warrick County, Organization and Settlement of 14 

Warrick County, Topography, Soil and Products of 7 

Yankeetown 38 



Contents — Continued. 
BIOGRAPHICAL PART. 

PAGE 

Barker, Dr W. L 107 

I t< m >n, Ratliff 71 

Bono. W. II '49 

( !abbage, .lames W 146 

i Jockrum, John 15 1 ;, 1 

I towns, r l\ .1 125 

Fuller. Benoni S 105 

Gordner, Charles, Sr 131 

Handy, Judge John 13 95 

llart.T. B 12:? 

Hargrave, W. .1 124 

Husk, M rs. M.J 14:5 

Keegan, C. J., M. D 135 

Kelley, Commodore 148 

Lane, Gen . Joseph 72 

Matthewson, Dr. R. C 82 

Masters, G. L 115 

Moore, Judge .1. W. B 109 

McVey, W H., M. D 152 

Oatley, C. L 97 

Perigo, Ezekiel 80 

Phelps, A. M 88 

Perigo, Robert 114 

Parke, Charles. M. D 139 

Reynolds, John A 144 

Stales, William 86 

Seitz, Jacob 100 

Swint, William 101 

Swint, Katie A 103 

Scales, Hansel M 128 

Scales, W. B., M. D 132 

Sehreiber, Gustavus 133 

Schneider, Charles, Sr 136 

Taylor, John L 137 

Tyner, S. L., M. D 129 

Wbittmghill, William S 153 

Youngblood, I . E 141 

Youngblood, Rev. John W 119 



RAPHIES. 

Jl PAGE 

155 

155 

156 

156 

Dial, jvn 157 

Dickey, F . J., M. D 158 

Eckstein, Leonard 158 

Ewen, George, M . D 159 

Fuller, William W 160 

Graham, Robert M 160 

HeimJConstantine 161 

Heim, Adolph W 162 

Jones, T.B., M. D 163 

McCoy, Josephs., M. D 164 

Moore, R. D. 164 

Patterson, F. W 165 

Pelzer, F . W 166 

Tilman, J. R ., M D 167 

Wilde, G. 0. E 167 

Whittinghill, W. Scott 168 

PORTRAITS. 

Cabbage. James W 146 

Downs, Thomas J ... 12o 

Hart, T. B 123 

Husk, Mrs. M. J 143 

Masters, George L 115 

Oatley. C. L 97 

Parke, Charles, M . D 139 

Phelps, A M 88 

Seitz, Jacob 100 

Swint, William 101 

Swint, Katie A 103 

APPENDIX. 

County Superintendent's Report for 1880 172 

Directory of Patrons 174 

Population of Warrick County 171 

Sheriffs of Warrick County 169 

Table of Distances 173 

Treasurer- of Warrick County 170 



f 



REFAl 



No history extant is free from errors. They . ^lerally the 
result either of indifference on the part of those acquainted with the 
facts or the lack of information of the historian. This volume is 
doubtless one with many faults ; but it is offered to the patrons as the 
best that could be produced under the numerous disadvantages besetting 
its prosecution, and without entailing an unjustifiable expense upon 
the publisher. Care has been taken to make the historical part of the 
work correct, and, although it is doubtless incomplete, it is of extraor- 
dinary length and detail for a work of its character. 

The biographical part is chiefly a record of living men. These arc 
represented from all classes, professional, business and agricultural. 
To write the biography of a living person is a work of appalling deli- 
cacy. Speak ivell of him and his enemies call it servile flat- 
tery. Speak ill of him and his friends call it the grossest injustice. 
Thus, it is impossible for the biographer to escape censure from one of 
the two sources. The different biographical subjects of this work are 
not unlike all mankind. They all have faults, but it is not our prov- 
ince to hold those faults up to the public gaze for the gratification of a 
certain class that delight in the depreciation of their fellow-men. The 
sole endeavor lias been to do the subjects justice as near as possible in 
the slwrt space allotted. If the biographical part is incomplete, the 
fault can not be justly attributed to the editor. Trusting that 
the work will be given a just consideration and that it may be of some 
value or interest to the posterity of the prominent people of Warrick 
county of the present it is submitted to the public. 

WILL FORTUNE. 

Boonville, Indiana, 1881. 



TOPOGRAPHY, SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS OF 
WARRICK COUNTY 



Warrick county is situated in the southwestern part of Indiana, and is 
bounded on the east by Little Pigeon creek and Spencer county, on the 
west by Vanderburgh, on the north by Pike and Gibson, on the south by 
the Ohio river. Its area is about 088 square miles, or 248,320 acres This 
land is valued at about $3,000,000, and the improvements on it nearly 
$7,000,000. 

The surface of the country is mostly rolling or undulating, although 
there is a range of hills along the northern boundary. Along the course 
of Pigeon, Cypress and other streams with which the country is watered, 
are large tracts of flat, wet land. The soil of the bottoms, many of which 
are large, is very rich, and corn is cultivated on it with marked success. 
Most of the upland is perfectly arable and of good quality, annually yield- 
ing bountiful crops In the northern portion of the county is a fertile 
fruit-growing soil, though the farmers of that section have not given the 
cultivation of it much attention, producing only enough for home use 
Their neglect of this product is attributed mainly to the present ^inaccessi- 
bility to the markets, but if the railroad projects now pending are carried 
into effect, this disadvantage will be obviated. In the southern part of 
the county corn, wheat and hay are the staple products. The annual 
yields are large, for which the Ohio river affords convenient access to the 
markets Principally in the central part, but to a more or less extent 
over the entire county, tobacco is the chief product. The soil is peculiarly 
adapted to its cultivation, and it is a remunerative commodity. More to- 
bacco is raised in this county than any other in the State, and the yield 
some years has been as high as eight million pounds. The farmers mostly 
sell their tobacco to the tobacco establishments in Boonvflle, where it is 
stemmed and packed previous to its shipment to the eastern markets. To 
do this new a large number of people of both sexes and all ages are employ- 
ed from six to nine months in the year, many of whom depend wholly upon 
it for a livelihood From the sale of his tobacco the farmer realizes from 
one to ten cents per pound, according to quality ; the shipper from fifteen 
to twenty cents ; the manufacturer, who pays a duty of seventy-five cents 
per pound, from $1.20 to $1 40, and the retail dealer from $1.75 to $2.00. 



viii Topography, Soil and Productions of Warrick County. 

Cattle and sheep raising can be followed with impunnity, and is, though 
not extensively. Those who have engaged in it generally find it the most 
remunerative investment of capital and labor. 

A seam of good coal underlies all of Warrick county to a more or less 
extent, which can be reached by shafts of moderate depth It belongs to 
the class of bituminous coals, and possesses valuable properties as a fuel, 
both for manufacturing and domestic purposes. It kindles very readily 
and produces a strong heat. Experiment has demonstrated its high value 
as .1 steam-producing fuel. The low price at which this coal is sold and 
the almost inexhaustible supply, together with numerous other induce- 
ments, renders this a desirable place for the location of manufactories. 
Warrick county's greatest wealth lies in her coal fields. In the language 
of Col. Mullberry Selleis, " There's millions in it." At present the only 
place in the county where coal is mined to any great extent is at New- 
burgh, where, on an average, about 3,000 bushels are produced daily. 
Smaller mines are located at Boonville, Chandler, Millersburgh and other 
places in the county, but their shipments, compared with those of the 
Newburgh dealers, are not large. 

During the past few years several mineral springs have been discovered 
in tins county, and a thorough analysis and test of their waters has shown 
them to possess medicinal properties that are highly salubrious. These 
springs have become quite popular as summer resorts, and are annually 
visited by large numbers of people seeking health and rest. 

Geologists deem it quite probable that both salt and oil can be found in 
large quantities along the meanderings of Cypress and other small creeks 
in this section. In 1814 several men commenced digging salt wells near 
( lypress creek, about three miles from the river, but owing to the lack of 
proper facilities for the prosecution of the enterprise it was abandoned. 
It is also asserted that another party, after going to the depth of 349 feet, 
near the mouth of Cypress creek, in quest of oil, came to water which was 
highly impregnated with salt. 

In short, Warrick county is rich in its mineral possessions and the fer- 
tility of its soil, and holds out excellent inducements to both capital and 
labor. 



INCIDENTS OF THE PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS. 



WARRICK COUNTY SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO INDIAN VILLAGE 

AN INDIAN TRADITION CHIEF SETTEEDOWN MURDER OF ATHE 

MEEKS CAPTURE AND MURDER OF THE SHAWNEE INDIAN 

REMOVAL OF INDIANS FROM SOUTHERN INDIANA. 

Less than seventy-five years ago the territory which now com- 
prises Warrick county was a dense forest, and the only inhabi- 
tants were Indians and wild animals. The land which is now 
dotted over with peaceful and happy homes was then but a 
boundless field of trees, with here and there only a little 
path, beaten by wild animals, wending its way through the 
thick forest to some small stream or watering place. This whole 
section of country was then a wilderness, in which the red man 
reigned supreme, and his wild game was doubtless often chased 
through what are now the streets of thecapitol of Warrick coun- 
ty. Seventy-five years ago the rays of civilization had not pene- 
trated our forest and the advent of the white man was in the fut- 
ure. 

Scattered along the banks of the Ohio river and in the inte- 
rior of what is now Warrick county were the rustic, artless wig- 
wams of savages. These Indians were principally Shawnees. 
The abundance of game in this section of country made it a fa- 
vorite home with the Indians. Situated near the mouth of Cy- 
press creek, on the banks of the Ohio river, was an Indian vil- 
lage, which, for many miles surrounding, was their central point. 
This village numbered about one hundred wigwams, but it disap- 
peared soon after the settlement of white men and very little is 
known regarding it. 



10 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Other localities in Warrick also bear indubitable evidences of 
having at some time been the abiding place of the aborigines. 
It is evident that the southwestern part of the county was at one 
time a haunt of the race known as Mound Builders. In the 
neighborhood of Newburgh, skeletons, with tomahawks, pipes, 
and such personal property as was customarily interred with the 
dead bodies of Indians, have been exhumed. 

Among some people there was a fancy prevalent several years 
ago that much of the wealth of the Indians was secreted near the 
river in the neighborhood of the mouth of Cypress creek, which 
attained verisimilitude through a circumstance occurring at the 
time. A representative of the Shawnee Indians visited Warrick 
county in quest of gold and silver, which, according to an Indian 
tradition, had been buried by their ancestors near Cypress creek. 
The place described was found, but the efforts to find the hidden 
treasure were unsuccessful. The story created a little excitement 
at the time and obtained credence among the more credulous 
class of people, but the matter still remains a mystery. 

The Indians that inhabited this section of country were gener- 
ally friendly and peaceable. While they had a few disturbances, 
the only white man known to have been murdered by them in 
this county was a farmer named Athe Meeks 

Meeks was an old man and lived near where the iron bridge 
now crosses Pigeon creek. On the banks of the creek a short 
distance below stood an Indian wigwam, in which Setteedown, 
Chief of the Shawnee Indians, lived with his squaw and only 
son. 

Setteedown was a middle-aged man, of large frame, and he 
possessed great muscular strength. Like most savages, he pre- 
ferred to live in solitude, and had erected his wigwam remote 
from the village of his tribe. However, he is said to have been 
of a sociable disposition at times, always treating his pale-faced 



Incidents of the Primitive Inhabitants. 11 

friends kindly and often participating in their amusements. If a 
shooting match was given, Setteedown was sure to be present, 
and as a participant he displayed remarkable skill. It is said he 
was very wealthy, and at the time of the settlement of the white 
men he owned a large herd of cattle and horses, and an exten- 
sive farm, the eastern boundary of which was along what is now 
Second street in Boonville. 

Setteedown's neighbor, Athe Meeks, was an honest old man, 
who supported a large family by farming, fishing and hunting. 
The white man regarded the indolent savage as a nuisance, and 
the Indian looked upon the white man as a trespasser. The two 
grew to disliking each other. Meeks was accused of molesting 
Setteedown's traps and nets. Meeks' pigs would disappear and 
Setteedown was charged with stealing them. Thus the hatred 
became bitter and the Indian plotted vengeance on his enemy. 
* Early one morning in 1811 several of Setteedown's war- 
riors, armed with rifles, stealthily crept to the skirts of the woods 
surrounding Meeks' house. While making preparations to attack 
the house one of the Indians met in the woods, Athe Meeks, 
Jr., a strong, athletic son of the senior Athe. Fearing he would 
give the alarm and thus thwart their purpose, the Indian at- 
tacked him with his tomahawk and endeavored to kill him. In 
the encounter young Meeks succeeded in throwing his antagonist to 
the ground and making his escape, although his arm had been bro- 
ken and badly mutilated while endeavoring to defend himself 
from the blows of the savage's tomahawk. Hastening on to the 
house the Indians were now determined to finish their bloody 
work. An unusual disturbance among the swine was heard and 
Meeks hastily dressed and started to learn the cause, but as he 

*There have been various stories told regarding this tragedy, but we 
have adopted the version of Gen. James C Veatch principally, believing 
it to be the most reliable. His information was all obtained from parti- 
cipants in the tragedy. 



12 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

stepped out of his door he was shot through the brain. With a 
frightful yell the Indians made a rush for the body of the dead 
man for the purpose of scalping him, but Mrs. Meeks succeeded 
in getting it in the house before they reached it. The report of 
the rifle had aroused William, the eldest son of Meeks, who 
lived near by, and he now came to the rescue of his mother. 
The Indians fled and young Meeks followed them, killing one of 
the number, who was carried a short distance by his comrades 
and theii deposited in a hollow tree, where he was found several 
weeks afterwards. The young man, who was dressed only in 
his "night clothes," without hat or boots, started with all speed 
he possessed to the nearest settlement, to spread the news of his 
father's murder and procure assistance in capturing the hostile 
Indians. Almost completely exhausted he reached French Island, 
on the Ohio river, ten miles distant. Sam Perkins, the com- 
mander of a keel-boat managed by seventeen men, was at the 
Island when Meeks arrived with the news of the murder. Per- 
kins called his men together, told them about the outrage and 
urged all to go at once in pursuit of the Indians. The men all 
promptly volunteered, a few farmers joined them, and Captain 
Young, a farmer who lived near by, was made their command- 
er. Eight hours or more having elapsed from the time of the 
murder before it was possible for the men to start in search of the 
Indians the latter had sufficient time to get safely beyond the 
reach of their pursuers. When the men arrived at the Indian 
camp it had been deserted, and Setteedown and his followers 
were many miles away. However, a party of armed men secret- 
ed themselves in the ambush surrounding the deserted camp to 
watch for the return of any of the Indians. At nightfall an In- 
dian, who had been out hunting for two or three days, returned 
to the camp. He was not aware of what had been done in his 
absence and upon beholding the lonely and deserted camp he 



Incidents of the Primitive Inhabitants. 13 

stood motionless with astonishment for a moment. Stooping 
over the dying embers of the camp-fire he stirred the ashes with 
a stick for the purpose of learning about how long his band had 
been gone. As he arose he heard the clicking of rifles around 
him and found himself a prisoner. He was placed under guard 
in a log cabin, near where Grandview now stands, to await the 
time for a preliminary trial. The settlers began gathering around 
the cabin at night, and William Meeks was noticed among the 
number. The Indian suspected his fate and he determined to die 
bravely. He sang the Indian song of death preparatory to his 
journey to the "happy hunting ground." As he took his last 
look at the setting-sun, he said, ' ' Indian see no more suns ; In-. 
dian die to-night. " When the sun rose the next day he was a corpse- 
Sometime during the night a rifle had been thrust through one of the 
cracks in the log cabin and a bullet was sent through the heart of 
the innocent savage, whose life was the penalty of his band's 
crime. There are various stories as to the manner and by whom 
this Indian was murdered. At the time it was generally believed 
he was killed by William Meeks, but it is also asserted that a man 
named Thomas Ewing committed the deed. Further, it is claimed 
by a descendant of Bailey Anderson that while the guards were 
absent getting water the Indian was bled to death by Anderson ; 
that it was a family secret, which he has known since 1846. 

After this tragedy the Indians soon disappeared entirely from 
this section of country. It is believed that Setteedown and his 
band joined the forces of old Tecumseh and the Prophet, and 
they were doubtless participants in the war of 181 2. From our 
forests the Indian has passed almost to extinction, but he has left 
among us the strange monuments and exciting traditions of a 
barbaric race, which will perpetuate his memory. His restless 

disposition cannot conform to the customs of civilized man. 
The wilderness is his home 
And there he will roam. 



ORGANIZATION AND SETTLEMENT OF WAR- 
RICK COUNTY. 



ORGANIZATION OF WARRICK COUNTY CAPTAIN JACOB WARRICK, 

IN HONOR OF WHOM THE COUNTY WAS NAMED REDUCTION OF 

TERRITORY REMOVAL OF CAPITOL FROM EVANSVILLE TO DAR- 
LINGTON FIRST CENSUS ENUMERATION REPRESENTATIVE IN 

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION FIRST COUNTY AND STATE 

ELECTION ORGANIZATION OF VANDERBURGH AND SPENCER 

COUNTIES FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 

The rise and decline of Warrick county follow in quick suc- 
cession. Scarcely had it risen as the pioneer county of Indiana 
Territory ere the decline of its dominions was marked by the or 
ganization of a county on the east, one on the west, and so on, 
reducing its territory on all sides, until Warrick, with its present 
limits, only remained. 

At the session of the Territorial Legislature of Indiana in 1813 
a law was enacted " organizing the county Warrick." The lim- 
its of this county, as described in the bill, were, " All that terri- 
tory which lies south of a line commencing at a point on the Wa- 
bash river at the southwest corner of Gibson county, and run- 
ning east to the western line of Harrison county, thence south 
to the Ohio river." This included all the territory which now 
comprises the counties of Posey, Vanderburgh, Warrick, Spen- 
cer, Perry, and a portion of Crawford. Evansville, which was 
then a mere village, was made the county seat. 

The county was named in honor of Captain Jacob Warrick, 
who was killed in the memorable battle at Tippecanoe. Little 
is known regarding the life of Warrick, except that he was one of 
the heroes at Tippecanoe, where he distinguished himself by his 



*\ 



Organization and Settlement of Warrick County. 15 

bravery, as an illustration of which we quote from an account of 
the battle, in Dillon's History of Indiana, the following: "War- 
rick was shot immediately through the body. Being taken to 
the surgery to be dressed, as soon as it was over (being a man 
of great bodily vigor and able to walk) he insisted on going back 
to head his company, although it was evident he had but a few 
hours to live." 

The county, as organized under the act of 1813 embraced 
too much territory, and as the population increased the geo- 
graphical greatness of Warrick was reduced. In 1814 the Leg- 
islature passed an act creating out of its territory the county of 
Posey on the west, and Perry on the east. This limited Warrick 
to what are now Vanderburgh, Warrick and Spencer counties. 
The capitol was located at Darlington, then a promising settle- 
ment near the Ohio river, four miles above Newburgh. 

On December 4, 181 5, the first census of Warrick county was 
forwarded to the House of Representatives of the Territory of 
Indiana. The population was enumerated : "White males 
over 21 years of age, 285 ; total, 1,415." 

As the population was large enough the citizens of Indiana 
Territory were now clamoring for its admission to the Union 
as a State, and a memorial was prepared and forwarded to Jon- 
athan Jennings, who was Indiana's delegate in Congress, pray- 
ing that the boundaries might be fixed and the Territory admit- 
ed to the Union as a State. Mr. Jennings presented the mem- 
orial and had no difficulty in getting a bill passed in conformity 
with its requests. In compliance with this law an election was 
held on the 13th day of May, 18 16, and the people of Warrick 
county chose Daniel Grass to represent them in the constitution- 
al convention which convened at Corydon on the 10th of June 
following, for the purpose of framing a constitution for the new 
State. The residence of Mr. Grass was in what is now Grass 



16 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

township (named in honor of him), Spencer county. He was 
distinguished in the convention as an active and valuable mem- 
ber, and was on three of the most important committees. 

On the first Monday in August, 1816, occurred the first coun- 
ty and State election under the new form of government. This 
election resulted in Daniel Grass being elected State Senator 
from the counties of Posey, Perry and Warrick. Ratliff Boon 
was elected Representative from Warrick in the State Legisla- 
ture. This was the debut of Ratliff Boon in public life. It was 
marked by no gushes of oratory, but by sound judgment and 
honest policy. He was afterwards elected to various offices of 
honor, among them that of Representative in Congress for sever- 
al terms and Lieutenant-Governor of the State. 

In 1 81 8 the Legislature of Indiana passed a bill organizing the 
counties of Vanderburgh on the west, and Spencer on the east, 
of Warrick, thus reducing the latter to its present limits. How- 
ever, Warrick still remains one of the largest counties in the 
State. 

FIRST SETTLEMENTS. 

The first white man said to have settled in Warrick county 
was John Sprinkle, a native of Pennsylvania, who founded the 
town of Sprinklesburg, which was superseded by Newburgh. 
Mr. Sprinkle removed from his native State to Henderson coun- 
ty, Kentucky, in the year 1772, where he lived until 1803, when 
he removed to where Newburgh now stands, and settled with a 
large family of children. During his residence in Kentucky he 
had received the title of Major of the State Militia, and was a 
man of honor and high social standing in his community. He 
died in 1821. Felty Hay and James Lynn also settled in this 
vicinity shortly after Mr. Sprinkle. 

Early in the year 1805 a man with the homely appearance of 
the pioneer arrived at the mouth of Cypress creek on the Ohio 



Organization and Settlement of Warrick County. 17 

river. His entire baggage consisted of an axe, gun, and sup- 
ply of ammunition : limited, though useful. This man was Bailey 
Anderson, the first among prominent settlers of what now com- 
prises Warrick county. The surroundings pleased him and here 
he determined to make his home. He selected a place near the 
mouth of Cypress creek as a suitable site, and commenced the 
erection of a log cabin. At this time the country was very 
sparcely settled. There were intervals of miles between the lit- 
tle homes of the pioneers, and Bailey Anderson's cabin was far 
from those of his neighbors. The hardships of pioneer life were 
many and to the rising generation appear incredible. It is told 
of Bailey Anderson that while building his cabin, he lodged at 
night in a tree, which long afterwards was known as " Bailey's 
Roost." This novel couch was made by fastening pieces of 
timber across two substantial branches of the tree, and over it 
were spread the skins of wild animals to make it comfortable, 
and it was thus that Bailey Anderson is said to have first sought 
repose in his pioneer home. 

Following Anderson four other families arrived in a few 
months and settled not far from him. These were the Briscoes, 
Sheltons, Vannadas and Arnolds. They, too, were soon fol- 
lowed by others, whose names are more or less familiar to the 
people of the county, and since that time immigration has not 
ceased. The resources of the county have rapidly developed, 
the population gradually increased, and its progress in all mat- 
ters relative to the welfare of its citizens has been steadily on- 
ward. All this stands as a memorial to the brave, industrious 
and sturdy men who first cut roads through the almost impene- 
trable forests, cleared the land, tilled the soil, and gave to our 

county its first aspects of civilization. 
3 



ORGANIZATION AND SETTLEMENT OF THE 
TOWNSHIPS. 



ANDERSON — BOON — CAMPBELL — GREER — HART — LANE OHIO- 
OWEN — PIGEON — SKELTON. 



ANDERSON TOWNSHIP. 

Anderson township is situated in the southern part of the 
county, on highly elevated, though arable land, and borders on 
the Ohio river. The first settlement was made in this township 
in the year 1805 by Bailey Anderson, in honor of whom it was 
named. Among the early settlers were Solomon Vannada, Wil- 
liam Briscoe, Joseph Arnold, Daniel Rhoades, Daniel Bates, 
John W. Youngblood and the Sheltons. 

BOON TOWNSHIP. 

Boon, the central and largest township in the county, was one 
of the earliest settled. Its first resident was Ratliff Boon, first 
Representative of Warrick county in the Stale Legislature, and 
subsequently Congressman during sixteen years, and twice elect- 
ed Lieutenant-Governor, serving a part of one term as acting 
Governor. In honor of Mr. Boon the township was given his 
name. Among those settling shortly after Boon were Hudson 
Hargrave, Joseph De Forest, John Couts, Joseph Lawrence, Ja- 
cob Harpole, Joseph English, John B. Kelley, Joseph Adams, 
William Webb, Jacob Richardson, Edward Baker and Jacob 
Johnson. 

CAMPBELL TOWNSHIP. 

Campbell township, which lies in the western part of the coun- 
ty, was named in honor of its first resident, Thomas Campbell, a 



Organization and Settlement of the Townships. 19 

man much esteemed by his fellow-citizens, and on whom was 
bestowed various offices of trust and honor. However, by some 
it is claimed that John Luce was the first settler of this township. 
Soon after Mr. Campbell's settlement, Isham West, Joseph Mc- 
Donald and Phillip Miller, whose names are frequently associat- 
ed with the history of the county, arrived and located in the 
same vicinity. 

GREER TOWNSHIP. 

Greer township, which lies in the northwest corner of the coun- 
ty, west of Hart and north of Campbell, is named in honor of 
Richard Greer. Mr. Greer was an early citizen of the township, 
and resided in it until his death, which occurred in 1866. Lar- 
kin Birchfield, a Baptist minister, was one of the original settlers 
of the township, having located in it in 1827, two years after Mr. 
Greer. John Hornet, John Barton, William Taylor, George Tay- 
lor, James Kell and Joseph Fields were also among the early 
settlers of the township. 

HART TOWNSHIP. 

Hart township, in the northwestern part of the county, was given 
the name of Hon. John Hart, an early settler, and who was once 
Associate Judge of the Circuit Court. James Hinman settled in 
this township in 1814. Among those who settled here early 
were Tubby Bloyd, Lane W. Posey, John McMurtry, Elijah 
Boyd, Charles Morgan, John Taylor, Henry Hopkins, Clem. 
Nutter, Isaac McSwane and the McCord family. 

LANE TOWNSHIP. 

Lane, adjoining Hart, Owen and Pigeon townships, in the 
northwestern portion of the county, was named in honor of Gen. 
Joseph Lane, who once represented this county in the State Sen- 
ate, and has a national reputation as the Mexican war veteran, 
and was once Governor of Oregon, and a candidate for Vice- 
President of the United States on the Breckenridge ticket in i860. 



20 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Its first settlers were Captain James Ashby, Stephen Hanby, Wil- 
liam Scales, David Whittinghill, Daniel Cook, Jasper Hanby 
and a Mr. Powers. On account of its smallness this township is 
sometimes called "Little Lane." 

OWEN TOWNSHIP. 

Owen township, which lies adjoining Lane, Boon, Hart and 
Pigeon townships, was organized in 1848 out of the territory of 
Skelton. In honor of Robert Dale Owen it was given his name. 
The first residents of the township were the families of Phillips 
and Gentry, which, by the way, have not failed to " multiply and 
increase " in accordance with the scriptural injunction. Matthew 
Gentry, ex-county commissioner, settled in this locality in 1822. 

OHIO TOWNSHIP. 

Ohio township, lying in the southwestern part of the county 
and bordering on the Ohio river, was first settled by John Sprin- 
kle in the year 1803. Felty Hay and James Lynn came into the 
township shortly after Mr. Sprinkle. Among others who settled 
here early were Gaines Roberts, John V. Darby, John Alexan- 
der, Daniel Frame, Isham West, and a family named Gay. 

PIGEON TOWNSHIP. 

Pigeon township lies in the northeastern corner of the county, 
and is indebted to Little Pigeon creek, on which it borders, for 
its name. The first settlement in this township was made by 
George Taylor in 182 1, and his brother, John Taylor, came in 
1823. Nicholas Taylor also settled in this vicinity in 1821. Oth- 
er early settlers were John Greenaway, Samuel Ingram, Jesse 
Spradlin, the Skelton family, B. A. Ward, A. M. Jones, Jessie 
Isaacs, Morgan Chinn, P. N. Whittinghill, Hiram Brooner, John 
Beardsley and C. B. Allen. 

SKELTON TOWNSHIP. 

Skelton township is situated in the eastern part of the county. 
The territory of this township originally covered one third of the 



Organziation and Settlement of the Townships. 21 

county, bur it has been reduced by die organization of Lane, 
Owen and Pigeon townships on the north of its dominions. As 
an honor to Judge Zachariah Skelton, a highly esteemed pioneer, 
and who was Associate and Probate Judge successively during a 
period of twenty-one years, the township was given his name. 
The earliest settlers of the township were John Phillips, Judge 
Skelton, Samuel Brashears, Isham Kelly, Isaac Powers and 
Thomas Herston. 



BOONVILLE. 



BOONVILLE AFTER WHOM NAMED — BOONVILLE IN EMBRYO FIRST 

SALE OF TOWN LOTS — REMOVAL OF CAPITOL FROM DARLINGTON 
TO BOONVILLE — EARLIEST RESIDENTS — FIRST COURT HOUSE — 
SECOND — FIRST JAIL — FIRST TAVERN — FIRST CENSUS — FIRST 

CHURCH COURT HOUSES BUILT IN 1 836 AND 1851 RAILROAD 

MEETING HELD IN 1843 BOONVILLE TRIBUNE AND BOONVILLE 

ENQUIRER EDUCATIONAL-BURGLARIZING THE COUNTY TREAS- 
URER'S OFFICE — NORTH AND SOUTH R. R. — BOONVILLE REPUB- 
LICAN — L. E. E. & S. W. R. R. NATIONAL BANK BOONVILLE 

STANDARD BAPTIST HERALD WARRICK CHRONICLE SOCIAL- 
LY, RELIGIOUSLY, EDUCATIONALLY, COMMERCIALLY, ETC. 

On May 15, 181 8, the official plat of Boonville was recorded 
by Chester Elliott, county surveyor. The town was given the 
name of " Boonsville," in honor of Jesse Boon,* father of Rat- 
liff Boon, in acknowledgment of liberal donations of land which 
he had offered the commissioners when they were prospecting for 
a site on which to locate the town. The land which Mr. Boon 
proffered was situated one mile west of where Boonville now 

*It has been asserted and is generally believed by the people that Boon- 
ville was named after Ratlitf Boon This is a mistake The story has 
obtained credence upon mere supposition, and is wholly unreliable, while, 
on the other hand, we have plausible reasons from the best authority for 
the belief that it was named after Jesse Boon. 



22 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

stands, and why the commissioners refused to accept it is a moot- 
ed question. 

Boonville in embryo was a town of great promise. Being cen- 
trally situated the citizens of the county were not slow to per- 
ceive its advantages. Darlington was no convenient point for 
the seat of justice, where it was then located, and, therefore, af- 
ter the organization of the counties of Spencer on the east and 
Vanderburgh on the west of the territory of Warrick, the Legis- 
lature passed an act in 1818 removing the capitol of the latter 
county from Darlington to Boonville. This change was more 
satisfactory to the people and gave to Boonville an impetus which 
was not likely to result favorably to the progress of other villages 
in the county. Darlington, the former capitol, which had risen 
like Aladdin's palace, now as rapidly declined, and the once 
promising village was converted into a farm. 

On the 4th, 5th and 6th of June, 1818, John Hargrave, coun- 
ty agent, made the first sale of town lots at public auction. There 
was a lively demand for property in the new capital, and conse- 
quently the value of it was greatly enhanced. A large num- 
ber were present at this sale, some from abroad, and, it is said, 
there was close competition by the purchasers, and a lively inter- 
est manifested, though no ill-feeling prevailed. Fifty-six lots 
were sold at prices ranging from $25 to $141, and the aggregate 
amount of the sale was $3,057.75. The prices paid for these lots 
are indicative of the flattering view the purchasers took of the fu- 
ture of Boonville, and notwithstanding itsyouthfulness, then as- 
sumed rank as the leading town in the county. 

The " town " at this time consisted of a few log cabins situated 

promiscuously on a hill, the summit of which the f court house 
now stands on. The oldest of these cabins stood near what is 
now the northeast corner of the Public Square. It is said that 
" the citizens were frequently annoyed at night by the wolves that 
barked and growled around their residences." 



Boonville. 23 

The earliest residents of Boonville were Nathaniel Hart, Adam 
Young, John Upham, James McCulla, Samuel Steele, Dr. Alva 
Pasco, and the Graham family, some of whom are familiarly 
known to the older citizens and have descendants still residing in 
the county. Dr. Alva Pasco was the first physician to locate in 
Boonville. He is said to have been one of the best of pioneer doc- 
tors, a good man, and to have enjoyed an extensive practice. 
He died in 1824. 

In 1818 a small and rudely constructed log cabin was erected 
near the center of the Public Square, in which the county courts 
were held, but after court convened in it a few times the build- 
ing was found to be very incommodious, and the erection of a 
brick court house, to be thirty-five feet square, was ordered by 
the county commissioners. However, the brick court house was 
never built. The enterprise was abandoned by general consent, 
and instead a frame building was erected, the architecture of 
which was, to say the least, very novel. A ditch two feet deep 
and two feet wide was filled with smoothly hewn logs to a level 
with the surface of the earth, on which was built a stone wall 
eighteen inches in height. This constituted the foundation and 
on it was built the the frame proper. However, this building 
was never completed. It was weather-boarded and roofed, but 
was neither lathed nor plastered, and thus it remained until 1836. 
While it was capable of holding more people than the log cabin 
it could only be used during the summer months. 

On the first Monday in October, 18 18, the county agent 
awarded to John Upham, the lowest bidder, the contract for 
building a jail in Boonville, of which the following are the speci- 
fied dimensions : " The jail is to be eighteen feet square, from 
outside to outside, to be built with a double wall of well-hewn 
timber twelve inches square, and to be raised in that manner so 



24 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

as to bring the joints of the outside wall opposite the face of the 
logs of the inside wall, leaving a space between the two walls of 
six inches, to be filled up with rock and gravel. The first story 
is to be seven feet high, and the second to be eight," etc. This 
jail, which was constructed on the foregoing plan, was situated 
on the southeast corner of the Public Square, but, becoming in- 
commodious, a new one was built of brick, on Sycamore, between 
Third and Fourth Streets. It, too, was soon removed, and a 
third one erected in its place. This jail was two stories in height, 
built of brick, and was much larger and stronger than the previ- 
ous one, although prisoners frequently escaped from it. It still 
stands, though in a very dilapidated condition, and is used as a 
residence. 

On February 9th, 181 9, the board of commissioners granted 
Benjamin Knapp "a license to retail spirituous liquors and keep a 
tavern in Boonville ; provided, he would limit his rates to 12^ 
cents per pint for whiskey ; 50 cents per pint for rum and French 
brandy; 50 cents for feeding and lodging a horse; meals, 25 
cents, and lodging, 12^ cents." This tavern is described as hav- 
ing all the characteristics of the old-time " country inn." It was 
a nucleus for travellers, idlers and lovers of the social glass, and 
a jolly, gossiping crowd could generally be found at " the tavern." 

At the April term of the county commissioners' court, 1819, 
John Upham and Adam Young were granted license to retail 
spirituous liquors in Boonville. 

In 1830, when the first census of Boonville was taken, the 
population numbered eighty-seven, while that of its rival — New- 
burgh — was only thirty-seven. At this time the town contained 
about thirty houses, scattered over considerable ground, and 
with a partially completed court house squatting on the hill, 
which the town surrounded, Boonville had begun to assume the 
aspects of a progressive settlement. 



Boonville. 25 

The first church in Boonville was erected by the Congrega- 
tionalists, and was situated just north of where the Cumberland 
Presbyterian church now stands. It was a small frame struc- 
ture, and after its desuetude as a place of worship was used for a 
time as a blacksmith shop, but it is now unoccupied. 

In 1836 the unfinished court house was removed, and a new 
brick building, forty feet square and two stories high, was erect- 
ed in its place. The offices of the county clerk and treasurer 
were in the second story. Compared with more modern edi- 
fices of the kind this court house would have a somewhat anti- 
quated appearance. 

In a few years this building also became too small to accom- 
modate its litigant patrons and the present court house was erect- 
ed in its place in 1851. 

In 1843 a meeting was called for the purpose of discussing the 

feasibility of building a railroad from Boonville to Evansville. 
At the appointed time a large crowd assembled at the court 
house. Speeches were made by several citizens, all favoring the 
immediate erection of a railroad, and the audience was becom- 
ing very enthusiastic for the proposition, when " Uncle Chester " 
Elliott, one of the early settlers of the county, was called out to 
give his views on the matter. He commenced his remarks by 
stating very emphatically, " I am heartily in favor of it." The 
audience applauded. He then proceeded to speak at some length 
on the superiorr esources of the county, and concluded by settling 
the railroad problem as follows: " If this railroad is built it must 
be with the strictest economy, and, therefore, I think I can 
submit a proposition which would prove the most profitable. 
(Cries of ' What is it ?' and ' Hear him !') The most economical 
railroad connection at this time would be a single track and a 
wheel-barrow." Laughter and applause followed, and the meet- 
ing unceremoniously adjourned, without any further appoint- 
ments for railroad meetings. 



26 . Warrick and its Prominent People. 

The first newspaper published in Boonville was the Boonville 
Tribune, the printing material of which was removed from New- 
burgh to Boonville in 1857. The Tribune was owned by a stock 
company composed of Dr. W. L. Barker and others. Edward 
White was its editor for a while, but he was soon succeeded in 
that capacity by Chas. Dalrymple, who, after a short time, sold 
the Tribune to John Fleming, a printer, and Judge J. W. B. 
Moore. The name of the paper was changed to the Boon- 
ville Enquirer, and Judge Moore assumed editorial control. Po- 
litically the Enquirer advocated the principles of the Democratic 
party, and, being the only paper published in the county, was 
very prosperous. In December, 1865, John Fleming was 
succeeded in its publication by E. L. Crawford, the paper being 
then conducted under the firm name of Moore & Crawford. In 
January, 1868. Judge Moore, being aged and in feeble health, 
retired from the editorial management of the Enquirer and sold 
his interest in it to Thomas H. Martin. Crawford & Martin 
continued its publication, with Martin as editor. In March, 
1870, William Swint purchased the Enquirer from them, and as- 
sumed full control as editor and publisher. The paper has con- 
tinued under his management and is one of the most prosperous 

rural weeklies in the State. 

Up to 1866 educational matters received little attention in Boon- 
ville. The onlv schools known were the subscription schools 
taught about three months in each year, to which parents would 
subscribe a stipulated amount as tuition for the instruction of their 
children in arithmetic, spelling, reading and writing. The youth 
that knew the "single rule of three " and obtained a smattering 
of the English language was considered educated. In 1866 the 
Boonville Graded School was instituted, and the present school 
house erected, which, however, has since been greatly improved 
by additions and alterations. Professor Forrest, an efficient in 



Boonville. 27 

structor, was chosen principal of the school, and under his man- 
agement it was very successful. The school consists of six grades 
— one German — in which are taught all the primary and common 
branches, and a few of the higher. The attendance at present is 
between four and five hundred pupils, and through the efficient 
services of a good corps of instructors it has attained the rank of 
a first-class public school. 

Monday night, April i, 1867, the County Treasurer's office, 
in the court house, was forcibly entered and robbed of $8,000 — 
$6,000 in greenbacks, and $2,000 in county orders. When the 
robbery was discovered and made known the town was thrown 
into the most intense excitement. Groups of astonished men 
would gather on the streets and discuss it, and the news of the 
daring outrage was a shock to the entire county. James H. Mas- 
ters, County Treasurer, offered a reward of $500 for the re- 
coveryof the money, and $500 for the apprehension of the 
robbers — $1,000 for both — but no clue to the thieves or 
money was obtained. Following this event came a series 
of similar occurrences. Several houses fell prey to the incendi- 
ary and stores were burglarized. The town seemed infested by 
a I »and of daring villains, and the people were now thoroughly 
aroused to vigilance. Watchmen patroled the streets night after 
night for several weeks, and every person was on the alert. 
However, beyond the hanging of a supposed incendiary until 
almost dead in trying to extort a confession of guilt from him, 
this detective force failed to bring to justice any of the criminals, 
but their vigilance had the effect of preventing further depre- 
dations. 

In 1868 the proposed North and South railroad, which was to 
pass through Boonville, was voted assistance in the sum solicited. 
However, the project was abandoned and tax refunded. Finale 
of Boonville's R. R. No. 2. 



28 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

In July, 1873, tne publication of the Boonville Republican, D. 
D. Doughty, editor and publisher, was commenced. The paper 
was a six column folio, advocated Republican principles, and en- 
joyed an average circulation. After a laborious existence of a 
little over two years the Republican " succumbed to a natural 
fate." 

After much talk and a mature "boom " the Lake Erie, Evans- 
ville & Southwestern railway was completed to Boonville, a dis- 
tance of seventeen miles, on Monday, August 4, 1873. The last 
rail was laid at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and at 3 o'clock the 
first locomotive — the wonder of the town — arrived in Boonville 
with a large delegation from Evansville. There was rejoicing, 
in which all classes participated alike, with a grand dance and 
feast, prepared especially for the occasion, and bumpers were 
drank freely to the success of Boonville's new railroad. The road 
was originally intended to run from Evansville to Bellefontaine, 
Ohio, but until the year 1880 was not extended beyond Boonville. 
In 1879 the name was changed to the Evansville & Eastern R. 
R. In the fall of 1880 the Local Trade railroad was built from 
Boonville to Gentry ville, where it connects with the Rockport 
& Jasper road, and the Evansville & Eastern and Local Trade 
railroad companies were consolidated on November 15, 1880. 
This railroad has been very beneficial to Boonville in more fully 
developing her resources, and it is at present in a very prosper- 
ous condition. 

In November, 1874, the Boonville National Bank was organ- 
ized with a capital of $50,000. 

In November, 1875, appeared the first number of the Boon- 
ville Standard, M. B. Crawford, editor, and the Boonville Stan- 
dard Publishing Company, publishers. The Standard is the organ 
of the Republican party in this county, and was originally owned 
by a stock company. During a period of three years — from 1876 



Boonville. 29 

to 1879 — ^ was owned and edited successively by Crawford & 
Berkshire, J. B. Berkshire, Wertz & Wagstaff, Wertz & Stinson, 
and C. F. Wertz. In July, 1879, C. F. Wertz sold the paper to 
I. E. Youngblood. During the first nine months of the latter's 
proprietorship it was edited by W. W. Admire, who was suc- 
ceeded in that capacity by Mr. Youngblood himself. In estab- 
lishing the Standard many difficulties, to which all new enter- 
prises are subject, were encountered, and for a time it was in an 
unhealthy state, but it has run the gauntlet of these trials, and is 
now on a sound financial foundation. In July, 1881, Mr. Young- 
blood was succeeded in the management of the Standard by R. 
M. Graham. 

In 1876 the General Baptist Herald, the organ of the General 
Baptist denomination in the United States, was removed from 
Oakland City, Indiana, to Boonville. The Herald w»s published 
weekly by the General Baptist Board of Publication, and edited 
by Jesse G. Lane. In 1878 Mr. Lane was succeeded in the 
editorial management of the paper by Dr. T. J. Hargan. The 
Herald suspended publication in 1878. 

In March, ot the same year, W. W. Admire commenced the 
publication of a five-column folio newspaper named the Warrick 
Chronicle. After an existence of three months it was consoli- 
dated with the Boonville Standard, Admire becoming editor and 
I. E. Youngblood, proprietor. 



We have endeavored to chronologically trace down to the pre- 
sent some of the most important events and enterprises in the 
history of Boonville, and thereby can best be judged the pro- 
gress of the town. 

Socially and educationally Boonville has, of course, materially 
improved during the last decade. Religiously, it has deteriorated, 
but the numerous organizations and societies instituted have 



30 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

all been more or less successful in the development of the people 
socially and intellectually. Thus far in the history of Boonville 
religion was at its zenith ten years ago. There are at present six 
churches in town. Of these six two are German — the Evangeli- 
cal Lutheran and Methodist — one Catholic, one Baptist (colored,) 
Cumberland Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal The Catholic 
church is not yet completed, and is without a pastor. 

Among the many prominent societies and organizations are 
three lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, two of 
Free and Accepted Masons, one Knights of Pythias, the Ancient 
Order of United Workingmen, the Boonville Building and Loan 
Fund Association, the Warrick Building and Loan Association, 
etc. The latter are saving institutions, and in that way have 
been the means of some benefit to the citizens and the upbuilding 
of the town. 

During the last ten years the growth of Boonville has been 
rapid for an interior town. New business establishments have 
sprung up here and there, dwelling houses have been erected on 
all hands, and the population has increased nearly double what 
it was twenty years ago. Boonville is the central business point 
of the county and surrounding neighborhood, and its shipments 
of produce are becoming largei each year. In short, Boonville 
is a prosperous town, and the indications are that it will continue 
to be such. 



NEWBURGH. 



FIRST SETTLEMENT SPRINKLESBURGH — MT. PROSPECT — FIRST 

EARLY BUSINESS MEN — SURVEY OF NEWBURGH — CONSOLIDATION 
OF NEWBURGH AND SPRINKLESBURGH FIRST CENSUS ENUMER- 
ATION FIRST CHURCH AND FIRST SCHOOL DELANEY ACADEMY 

— THE CHRONICLE AND WARRICK DEMOCRAT — FIRST COAL MINE 
NEWBURGH TRIBUNE — WARRICK HERALD NEWBURGH LED- 
GER AND OTHER NEWSPAPERS COMMERCIALLY, EDUCATIONAL- 
LY, RELIGIOUSLY AND SOCIALLY. 

Newburgh. — In 1803 John Sprinkle purchased land along the 
bank of the Ohio river, where the principal portion of New- 
burgh is now situated, and settled on it soon after. In 181 7 
Chester Elliott laid out for him the town of Sprinklesburgh, which 
composed the territory within the following limits in what is now 
Newburgh: Posey street on the north, Monroe street on the east, 
Ohio river south, and Washington street on the west. Although 
officially recorded as "Sprinklesburgh,'' for several years the town 
was called "Mount Prospect," and in a few legal documents 
this name is used. Sprinklesburgh, or Mount Prospect, was a 
town of some promise at the time of its incipiency, and transact- 
ed considerable business compared with neighboring pioneer 
towns. 

In 1 818 the county commissioners granted a license to Jacob 
Keel " to run a ferry across the Ohio river, opposite the foot of 
Monroe street, in Mount Prospect." 

The first men engaging in mercantile business in this place 
were Abner Luce and Abraham M. Phelps. Also, among the 
early business men, were Chester Bethell, William Shelby, Al- 
bert Hazen and W. Fuquay. 



32 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

On October 23, 1829, Abner Luce purchased the land lying 
east of State street, which is now known as Gray's Enlargement, 
and had the town of Newburgh laid out. Thus, two towns, 
Sprinklesburgh and Newburgh, were situated within a stone's 
throw of each other, yet the two consolidated, although called 
towns, literally speaking, would hardly have been entitled to the 
name. Lying between these two "towns" were about three 
acres of ground of a triangular shape, with the appearance of a 
wedge cutting in twain that which should be one. In 1837 the 
Legislature passed an act consolidating the two under the 
name of Newburgh, the wedge included. 

The growth of Newburgh up to 1830, when the first census 
was taken, was very slow. The population at that time num- 
bered only thirty-seven, and a few ( small houses scattered along 
the river bank constituted the town. However, during the next 

The first church in the town was established by the Presby- 
thirty years, it improved and progressed far more rapidly, 
terians in 1837, and Chester Elliott is said to have taught the 
first school in an old log building in Sprinklesburgh. 

Delany Academy, chartered by the State, was organized in 
1844, under the supervision of the Presbyterian church, Rev. 
Berry Hall, Abraham M. Phelps and other influential members 
of that denomination having been instrumental in securing its es- 
tablishment. This Academy was conducted by learned and thor- 
ough instructors. Under their efficient management it attained 
a wide popularity, and was attended by a large number of pupils 
from abroad. Delany Academy was of great benefit to New- 
burgh, both pecuniarily and educationally; but after the estab- 
lishment of the Newburgh Graded School the Academy was sus- 
pended. 

The first newspaper published in Warrick county was the 
Chronicle, established at Newburgh in 1848, R. S. Terry, editor 



Newburgh. 33 

and publisher. Politically, the Chronicle was Whig. In 1850 
it was succeeded by the Warrick Democrat, Calvin C. Frery, ed- 
itor and publisher. It was an advocate of Breckenridge Demo- 
cratic principles. In 1857 the Democrat was removed to Boon- 
ville. 

In 1850 the first coal mine, know as the " Phelp's Coal 
Bank," was opened on the banks of the Ohio river. The enter- 
prise proved profitable, and the opening of other mines soon fol- 
lowed, which were also remunerative to the proprietors. These 
mines now ship a large amount of coal to manufacturers and 
consumers along the river, besides supplying steamboats and the 
home demand. A large number of persons are employed in the 
mines, and Newburgh may appropriately be called a "mining 
town." 

In 1854 the publication of the Newburgh Tribune was com- 
menced, with Isaac Falls as editor and publisher. It was Know- 
Nothing politically, and ceased publication at the end of one year. 

The publication of the Warrick Democrat was again com- 
menced a few months after its suspension and continued until 
1862, when it again suspended. 

On May 9, 1867, the publication of the Warrick Herald, an 

" anti-Rebel-Ku-Klux-Dcmocrat" paper, was commenced, with 
Jacob V. Admire as editor and publisher. The Herald was ably 
edited and flourished for a while, but was finally forced to sus- 
pend from want of sufficient patronage. Several other papers 
have appeared and disappeared in Newburgh during the last 
twelve years. The Newburgh Ledger was published successively 
by Wm. Corwin Root and Keith & Slaughter. The Newburgh 
Times was also published for a while by Geo. Swint. But, alas ! 
all have passed away, leaving not even an old " file " for the ed- 
ification of posterity. If the appreciation is to be measured by 

the support given a home paper Newburgh is best satisfied with 
her present condition in that particular. 
4 



34 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

In a business point of view Newburgh is now in a lethargic 
condition, from which the more enterprising and energetic citi- 
zens are endeavoring to arouse it. Fifteen years ago Newburgh 
reached her greatest prosperity, since when it has gradually been 
retrograding. Its present condition is attributed to the indiffer- 
ence of the citizens in not taking advantage of the opportunities 
for securing a railroad commercial outlet and several extensive 
manufacturing establishments. The town is admirably situated 
on the Ohio river, nine miles above Evansville, and is the best 
shipping point on the river, thus offering extraordinary induce- 
ments for the location of manufacturing establishments. Her 
supply of coal is inexhaustible and is sold at a low rate. The 
town is surrounded by rich farming land. At present it con- 
tains about seventy places of business, professional, mechanical 
and mercantile, a population of 1,282, according to the last cen- 
sus, five churches, one lodge of F. & A. M., one I. O. O. F. , 
one I. O. G. T., one K. of P., one D. O. H., a Graded School, 
with a High School commission from the State, and, besides, 
contains more line residences than any other town of the same 
size in this part of the State. In her natural resources alone 
Newburgh will find her greatest wealth, and the " open sesame " 
to the development of these is a little enterprise and "Yankee 
pluck." 



VILLAGES IN WARRICK. 



DARLINGTON. 

DARLINGTON MILLERSBURGH — LYNNVILLE FOLSOMVILLE SEL- 

WI,\i YANKEETOWN, AND OTHER VILLAGES. 

Darlington:. — This once promising village was situated about 
four miles above Newburgh, and less than one mile from the Ohio 
river. In 18 14 the county seat was removed from Evansville to 
Darlington, which gave to the latter considerable importance in 
county affairs. The property owners in the place donated a large 
tract of land to the county, and on July 15, 1814, Wm. Briscoe, 
the county agent, sold the first " town lot," Jno. Sprinkle purchas- 
ing it for $30. On July 26, 1816, the official plat of Darlington 
was recorded. Being the capital of a county covering a large 
area of rich land, and as a commercial point admirably situated, 
Darlington was then regarded as a town of great promise, and 
pioneer speculators were eager to own land there. Town lots sold 
readily, and it is recorded that Hon. Ratliff Boon, on November 
15, 1 816, paid $42 for lot No. 42. 

One of the first churches in the county was built at Darlington. 
Rev. Hobbs, of the Baptist denomination, the pioneer preacher of 
Warrick, located first at Darlington. Rev. John Youngblood 
erected a church near Darlington in 1825, which is now used as a 
stock pen. 

In 1 81 5 Daniel Deckrow, the lowest responsible bidder, was 
awarded the contract for building a court house in Darlington, 
which is described as follow: "Twenty by twenty-five feet 
square of well hewn logs, not less than one foot square, to be one 
story and a half high, the upper half story to be six feet high, 



36 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

three windows large enough to receive eighteen lights of sash, 
two floors, one staircase, bar, jury box and judge's bench, two 
doors, shingle roof, and one partition above, with a door through 
the same, two windows above of the same size as the window be- 
low, completing the same with locks, bolts and hinges, etc." 
The cost of this court house was $290. 

In 1818 the seat of justice of Warrick was removed from Dar 
lington to Boonville, by enactment of the Legislature, and the 
owners of land in the former place were granted the privilege of 
taking in lieu thereof lots in the latter. To Darlington this was 
a death warrant. The "town," consisting of a court house and 
about a dozen houses, soon disappeared, and the ground on 
which the capitol of Warrick county once stood is now a prolifiic 
farm, all evidences of a town having long since passed away. 

MILLERSBURGH. 

Millersburgh, a village situated in Campbell township, about 
nine and a half miles northeast of Boonville, was laid out for the 
heirs of Phillip Miller, who was one of the earliest settlers of the 
township. The village is chiefly notable for its early enterprise 
and what it once was. In 1824 Phillip Miller built a small mill 
at this point, but in those days it was regarded as a great enter- 
prise. It is claimed that Luke Grant also built a mill here at 
about the same time, hence, the appropriateness of the village's 
name is susceptible of more reasons than one. It was truly a 
Miller's-burgh. The first merchant of whom anything is remem- 
bered was John Rasor. Samuel Parker and Moses Condit were 
the first to teach school in this vicinity. In 1859 the M. K. 
church was erected, and in 1873 the present school house. The 
old Wabash and Erie canal passed by this place, and at the time 
of its operation Millersburgh was most prosperous. The aban- 
donment of the canal and remote situation of the village from 
any commercial outlet, have been impediments to its growth. 



Villages in Warrick. 37 

However, it is a prosperous village, contains about thirty houses, 
two churches, a school house and a Masonic hall. The enumer- 
ation of the business pursuits is, viz.: Two dry goods stores, one 
tobacco warehouse, one blacksmith shop, one bar-room, a grist 
mill, a coal mine, and three physicians. Population, 105. 

LYNNVILLE. 

Lynnville, situated about ten miles north of Boonville, in Hart 
township, was laid out by John Lynn, after whom it was named. 
Lynn opened a saddle and harness shop in the place in 1839, 
and Daniel Zimmerman opened a store in 1840. Among the 
early business men were the Kirkpatrick brothers, Vanada broth- 
ers, James McGill, and Hubbard Taylor. The first chinch was 
erected by the Methodists. The village, which is one of the 
largest in the county, contains two churches, Methodist and Bap- 
tist, I. O. O. F. and Masonic hall, together with a good repre- 
sentation of the various business pursuits. Population, 304. 

FOLSOMVILLE. 

Folsomville, lying in the southeastern part of Owen township, 
about eight miles northwest of Boonville, was laid out on land 
owned by Riley Rhoads and Benjamin Folsom, on the 27th day 
of January, 1859. In honor of its principal owner the village 
was named Folsomville. The first to engage in business here 
was Daniel Rhoads, who was soon succeeded by a man named 
Duncan. Among the early business men were Folsom & Crow, 
George Colman, Bright & Dimmit, Isaac Houghland, J. G. 
Shryock, Brown & Wright, and Houghland & Fisher. A mill 
and carding machine was erected in 1866 by Pemberton & Lee, 
and in 1868 Folsom & Carnahan also built a flouring mill. A 
lodge of the I. O. O. F. was organized here in 1876. Religion 
in this locality, until recently, was at a low ebb, and the only 
church the village ever had was built by the Baptists about the 
year i860, which has long since disappeared. Folsomville contains 



38 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

a graded school, two dry goods stores, one drug store, two sa- 
loons, one mill, a blacksmith shop, two carpenter shops, and five 
physicians. Population, 194. 

SELVIN. 

Taylorsville, lying in the northeast part of Pigeon township, fif- 
teen miles northeast of Boonville, was laid out on land owned by 
Geo. Taylor, on the 13th day of July, 1839, by Hansel Ingram, 
[sham Hale and V. L. Morris. The village was called Taylorsville 
in honor to George Taylor, and even now is best known by that 
name; but there being another post office in Indiana bearing the 
same name, the former was changed to Polk Patch, which was 
also changed to Selvin in 1881. Among those who first engaged 
in business here were George Taylor, Mark Reavis, Joseph De- 
vin, Green Lasefield, Henry Evans and Joshua Whitney. A 
Methodist church was founded here at an early day, and its first 
pastors were Rev. Wm. Webb and Rev. Isham West. Near the 
site of the present M. E. church the first school house was built, 
111 which Joseph Hungate was the first to teach. The Catholics 
erected a church here in 1865. A flouring mill was established 
at an early day by Messrs. Galley & Day, which is now owned 
by J. F. Katterjonn. The village contains four stores, two drug 
stores, a Graded School, two blacksmith shops, two cooper shops, 

one steam flouring mill, two hotels and four physicians. Popu- 
lation, 222. 

YANKEETOWN AND OTHER VILLAGES. 

Yankeetown, situated in Anderson township, ten miles south 
of Boonville, was laid out by Thomas Day on April 9, 1858. 
The early inhabitants were principally Yankees, hence the name. 
The place has a church, Masonic hall, school house, several 
places of business, mechanical, mercantile and professional, and 
its general prosperity is parallel with that of other villages in the 
county. Population, 178. 

Elberfield and Chandler are both embryo villages, but are 
at present only known as post offices. 



EARLY ENTERPRISES. 



FIRST MAIL ROUTE — DISCOVERY OF SALT IN 1814 — FIRST COAL 

MINE MODES OF GRINDING CORN IN EARLY DAYS MILLS 

FIRST FLOUR BROUGHT TO COUNTY-FIRST CHURCH IN COUNTY- 

WABASH AND ERIE CANAL WARRICK COUNTY AGRICULTUKAL 

ASSOCIATIONS. 

Surrounded by the fruits of modern invention and discovery, 
with a convenient hitch to everything, the present generation of 
readers are unable to obtain anything like a real idea of the early 
privations and disadvantages of their pioneer ancestors, and are 
inclined to treat the accounts or such either with incredulity or 
indifference. Seventy years ago and less, when the territory 
which now comprises Warrick county was not inhabited by a 
dozen families, the main implements of defense and support we re 
the rifle, axe and plow. Machinery of any kind was unknown, 
and all work was performed by manual labor. 

In 1 81 2 the first mail route through this section of country 
was established, which was from New Harmony to Louisville via. 
where Boonville now stands. The mail was carried on horse- 
back by John Williams, two weeks being required to make the 
round trip. The carrier was frequently delayed by severe 
weather, high water, etc., and would often have to swim streams 
of water, the result being wet and badly soiled mail, which it re- 
quired great care to preserve. The name of the postmaster is 
now unknown. However, it is said that he could read ' ' writin'. " 
There was really no post office, but the mail was either carried 
in the postmaster's pocket or kept at his home until called for. 
On Evansville being made the county seat the mail route was 
changed, so that it was from New Harmony to Evansville via 



40 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Boonville to Louisville. Soon after a new route was established 
between Evansville and Corydon. 

In 1814 a party of men undertook an enterprise which, accoi 
cling to the theory of eminent scientists, would have proved pro- 
fitable if vigorously prosecuted. Between two and three miles 
from the Ohio river, on the bank of Cypress creek, they made 
a bore for salt, their attention having been attracted to 
the enterprise by the indubitable evidences of the exis- 
tence in that region of salt — the lickings of deer and other ani- 
mals. After boring to a considerable depth without any satis 
factory results the men engaged in the work became discouraged 
and abandoned the enterprise. 

Up to 1 81 8 the great mineral wealth underlying Warrick 
county had not been discovered, and in that year the first coal 
mine was opened on the bank of Pigeon creek, two miles from 
the Ohio river. However, coal was taken from it only in very 
small quantities, and the mine being of no pecuniary benefit to 
the proprietors it was abandoned. Soon after a second was opened 
on the same tract of land, which, although more profitable than 
the first, was abandoned because of its distance from the river. 
Tn 1850 the first coal shaft was sunk on the bank of the Ohio 
river in Newburgh, and was known as "Phelp's Coal Bank." 
Numerous large mines have since been opened and operated in 
the county with profit. 

The early settlers were not afforded the advantages of such a 
thing as a flouring mill, and even if they had their corn ground at 
all they would have to go to a Mr. Vannada's, the owner of a rude, 
old fashioned "hand-mill" in Kentucky. Sometimes they 
were compelled to go to Panther Creek, Kentucky, to "have a 
little grinding done." In 1816 a small "horse-mill" was built 
in Spencer county, and even it was hailed with joy by the farm- 
ers throughout this part of the State. About the year 1820 a 



Villages in Warrick. 41 

flouring mill was erected at Henderson, Kentucky, and the 
farmers in the neighborhood of Darlington having raised some 
wheal, (tubbed together and carried about seventy-five bushels 
in canoes to Henderson, and had it ground for their own use. 

Bread made of flour was almost unknown and seldom used in 
those days. The first bread of the kind now known to have 
been used in the county was about the year 1819, when a trader 
came down the river with thirty or forty barrels of flour, among 
other merchandise, and after trying in vain to exchange it for 
anything the settlers possessed, except corn or corn-meal, finally 
offered to trade one barrel of flour for three dozen chickens. The 
news of this offer being circulated among the settlers, they would 
hasten to make the trade, and soon nearly all the chickens in the 
county had been exchanged for flour. Eight or ten families near 
Boonville sent six dozen chickens to the trader and received in 
return two barrels of flour, which was equally divided, and it is 
said that the flour lasted over two years, being used only on rare 
occasions, and then sparingly. 

As the county, developed mills became more numerous and 
convenient. Among the first in Warrick county was a small 
one in Campbell township, erected in 1824 by Phillip Miller. 

Christianity has had its adherents in Warrick county from the 
time of the first settlements. In the earlier days services — 
" meetin' " it was then called — were conducted in winter at the 
homes of the church members by the itinerant preacher or cir- 
cuit rider; in warm weather, generally under the foliage of the 
forest. In those days the devotion of the people to their religion 
was not controled by the weather or circumstances. As the 
county became more thickly settled the people were enabled to 
erect churches and permanently secure the services of pastors. 
In 1824 the first church was built. It was constructed of logs, 
and was situated west of Boonville, near where the fair ground 



42 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

now is. It was never completed and could be used only during 
the summer months. The first preacher of the gospel in Warrick 
was a Baptist, whose name is not now known. In 1825 John 
Youngblood erected a Methodist church near Darlington, and he 
was also the first to preach that doctrine in Warrick. 

The Wabash and Erie canal, which passed through Warrick, 
was one of the most important enterprises and for several years 
the principal means of travel and freight transportation in the 
county, but the railroad has superseded it, and all that now re- 
mains of the canal is its bed. 

In 1856 the Warrick County Agricultural Association was or- 
ganized and incorporated. Suitable ground, one mile west of 
Boonville, was purchased and inclosed. A large amphitheatre, 
capable of seating 3,000 persons, with several other necessary 
buildings, were erected, and a good half mile race track was 
made. The success of this association from the time of its or- 
ganization has been something remarkable, and to the commer- 
cial interests of the county it has been worth thousands of dollars. 
It is in a perfectly sound condition financially, and gives promise 
of continuing a source of pleasure and profit to the farmers of 
\V irrick. 

The preceding brief narrative of some of the first enterprises of 
Warrick county is indicative of its progress in that direction, 
a id also of a few of the disadvantages and hardships endured by 
the pioneer settlers. However, Warrick has not escaped die con 
tagious progressiveness of the age, and being now liberally sup- 
plied with the fruits of Yankee ingenuity we live with more 
ease. 



COUNTY COURTS. 



FIRST COURT OF COMMON PLEAS — OFFICERS FIRST GRAND JURY 

— INDICTMENTS — VARIOUS SESSIONS OF COURT ADMISSIONS TO 

THE BAR — TOMMY HIGGINS' DRUNK — SALARIES OF OFFICERS OF 

COURT — FIRST CIRCUIT COURT COURTS AND COURT HOUSE AT 

DARLINGTON — JUSTICES OF THE PEACE— 'SQUIRE SHANE'S DE- 
CISION. 

One month after the organization of Warrick county, April 9, 
1813, the first term of the Court of Common Pleas of Warrick 
County was convened at the residence of Bailey Anderson, near 
the mouth of Cypress creek. There were no public buildings 
then, hence the courts were held in the cabins of the settlers, 
and, it seems, Bailey Anderson's cabin being centrally situated 
and the most commodious, was generally the place selected for 
holding such meetings. 

The process of administering justice was quite different in those 
days from the present. The law at that time required three 
Judges — one Chief Justice and two Associate Judges — to preside 
over the court. The Associate Judges were generally men more 
remarkable for their honesty and desire to do justice than for their 
technical legal judgment or knowledge of the law. Their duties 
consisted principally in convening and adjourning court, hearing 
cases of minor importance in the absence of the Chief Justice, etc. 
Their awkwardness in the performance of these duties and ignor- 
ance of legal terms frequently led them into ludicrous blunders. 
As an instance, it is related that on one occasion while court was 
in session at Darlington, the two Associate Judges, in the absence 
of the Chief Justice, were compelled to occupy the bench and 
assume its grave responsibilities. The docket was being disposed 



44 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

of with comparatively little trouble, and, with the exception of 
the customary awkwardness and slowness, business was moving 
smoothly, when a case was called up for hearing in which the at- 
torney for the defendant moved that "the case against his client 
be thrown out of court on account of some defect in the trial be- 
low." ' After hearing the argument on the proposition, the two 
Associates retired to a corner of the room. After a whispered 
consultation of several minutes they resumed their seats and the 
elder Associate, gathering up the papers filed in the case, threw 
them out-doors, and with much gravity announced that they 
" guessed the darned thing would have to go out!" 

The officers of the first Court of Common Pleas of Warrick 
County were as follows : ^Eneas McAhster, Chief Justice ; Jas. 
Mars and Bailey Anderson, Associate Judges; Nicholas Clay- 
pool, Clerk; and Samuel Mars, Sheriff. Thus organized, the 
courl proceeded to impanel a grand jury of "fourteen good 
and lawful men" to apply the thumbscrews of the law to evil do- 
ers in Warrick county, but failing to return any indictments they 
were discharged. At this session of court, and also the two fol- 
lowing terms, no criminal cases were tried. The business con- 
sisted principally in hearing petitions, allowing bills due from the 
county, and other matters, such as now are the duties of the 
board of commissioners. Criminal cases were very rare then. 

Of the early sessions of court the most important was held on 
October 1 8th, 1813, at the residence of Bailey Anderson, when 
the first criminal case was tried — James Craw vs. Preston Ga- 
forth, for damages — by a jury of twelve men, who rendered a 
verdict in favor of the plaintiff, allowing him, with extraordinary 
mathematical precision, the sum of $32. 80. Atthisterm William 
Prince, who afterwards became a judge and gentleman of some 
distinction, and G. R. C. Sullivan, were admitted to the bar as 
practitioners. At this term of court the grand jury returned 



County Courts. 45 

their first indictment, which was against John May for passing 
counterfeit money. Joshua Elkins was also indicted for "selling 
liquor, or strong water, without license." While investigating 
the latter case one of the jurors, Tommy Higgins, got beastly 
drunk and caused a disturbance in the jury room. He was 
brought before the court next day on the charge of " drunken- 
ness and disorderly conduct," and lined $5.00, after which the 
Judge lectured him on his disgraceful behavior and the hideous- 
ness of intemperance, and, it is said that Tommy Higgins was 
never afterwards known to drink intoxicating beverages. The 
penalty and judge's rebuke made a deep impression upon his 
mind, and it was a lesson that he never forgot. 

At a special session of court held at Evansville on November 
15, 1813, an allowance was made to Nicholas S. Claypool, of 
$30 for one year's service as Clerk of the court ; Samuel R. Mars, 
for one year's service as Sheriff, $50 ; Wm. Johnson, one year's 
service as Prosecuting Attorney, $25; while ^Eneas McAlister 
and James Mars were each allowed $22, and Bailey Anderson, 
$18, as Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Warrick for one 
year. Here is an item for the political economist to ponder 
over. 

Tracing down the proceedings of the different sessions of court 
we find that on May 23, 1814, Daniel Grass was recommended 
to the Governor to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of 
Bailey Anderson as Associate Judge. Mr. Anderson's reasons 
for resigning are unknown. His successor was one of the most 
influential pioneer citizens, and afterwards figured quite promin- 
ently in local politics. 

On the 27th day of March, 1815, the first circuit court of War- 
rick county was convened at the residence of Daniel Rhoades, 
in Anderson township, with Judge Isaac Blackford on the bench. 
The session was uninteresting and very little business was trans- 



46 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

acted other than the grand jury returning a few indictments of 
minor importance. 

For two years the different sessions of court had now been 
held alternatively at the cabins of a few of the settlers. These 
places were incommodious and attended by numerous disadvan- 
tages. The county needed a court house and the people began 
to demand one. Therefore, at the next term of court, August 
15, 1815, it was ordered that a court house be built at Darling- 
ton, and the following contract describing the plans and terms 
for the erection of the same was let to Daniel Deckrow, the low- 
est bidder: "Twenty by twenty feet square, of well hewn logs, 
not less thun one foot thick, to be one story and a half high, the 
upper story to be six feet high. Three windows, large enough to 
receive eighteen lights sash, two floors, one staircase, bar, jury 
box and judges' bench, two doors, shingle roof, and one parti- 
tion above, with a door through the same, two windows above 
of the same size as the windows below, completing the same with 
loi ks, bolts and hinges, and in a workman like manner on or be- 
fore the first day of March, 1816." This building cost the coun- 
ty $290. 

On April 10, 181 7, Joseph Arnold, Isaac B. Wright and Jos. 
Robinson, the first board of commissioners of Warrick coun- 
1) , met at the court house in Darlington. Their first business 
was to order the election of justices of the peace in the different 
townships. 

The writer has in his possession the docket of James McCulla, 
Justice of the Peace of Boon township, during 1822-3. The 
volume consists of about 150 sheets of old style paper, legal 
cap size, bound in deer skin. It has suffered severely from old 
age, yet most of the writing in it isperfe< tly legible. Among the 
many curious cases in this docket is one dated December 21, 
1822, where John Welch brings suit against Ephraim Young- 



County Courts. 47 

blood to recover twelve and one half cents. However, the most 
ludicrous feature of the case is that it was decided in favor of 
the defendant, and the court ordered the plaintiff to pay costs. 
Another noteworthy case recorded in the old docket is one dated 
September 13, 1823, which reads : " Ratliff Boon vs. Joseph De- 
Forest— debt 75 cents." The verdict was rendered in favor of 
the plaintiff. 

Among the justices of the peace in Warrick county sixty years 
ago was a large corpulent man, called Squire Shane, who had 
gained considerable local notoriety as an adjuster of grievances. 
Illustrative of his ability to effectually convince the litigants in his 
court the following is related : 

"A man named Rice lost a cow one spring, and discovered her 
several weeks afterwards in the enclosure of a neighbor named 
Bond, about eight miles distant. Rice demanded the animal, 
but Bond declared that he purchased the cow and would not 
give her up. Consulting an attorney m regard to the matter 
Rice was directed to procure a writ of replevin from Squire 
Shane and endeavor to recover his property through the process- 
es of the law, which he did. Shane was somewhat illiterate, but 
extremely tenacious of his honor, and was egotistic enough to 
believe that he could mete out "equal and exact justice." In 
due time the constable returned the writ, and a trial followed. 
The plaintiff proved beyond cavil that the cow belonged to him, 
and the court rendered a decision accordingly. The defendant 
w is ordered to surrender the property and pay costs. It would 
probably be proper to state just here that after the cow had left 
Rice's possession, and before legal proceedings were instituted 
for h :r recovery, she had given birth to a calf. After announc- 
ing his decision Justice Shane commenced entering judgment on 
his docket, and Bond complacently remarked to a friendly by- 
stander, in hearing of His Honor, that "There was nothing said 



48 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

in the trial about the calf, and I'll be d — d if I give it up." 
Upon hearing this rebellious remark Squire Shane coolly dropped 
his pen, arose from his seat and walking deliberately up to Bond, 
fastened the iron grip of his left hand upon his throat, and said 
in a very determined manner, "Give up that calf or I'll choke 
h — 1 out of you." Bond, badly frightened, promptly, though 
rather incoherently replied, "I will! Squire, I will!" Squire 
Shane was a man not to be trifled with, and he would have either 
choked those words or the life out of that man." 



WARRICK IN THE WAR. 



At the beginning of the war in 1861 Warrick county was one 
of the foremost in responding to the rail for soldiers to put down 
the rebellion, and 4 ' being a border county, the danger and ex- 
citement were consequently great. Those who did not, or could 
not, in consequence of old age or other infirmities, participate in 
the trials and dangers of the camp and field, were unable to do more 
than to protect and subsist themselves and the wives and families 
of those who did." However, further than being badly fright- 
ened by Col. John Morgan's guerrillas, Warrick county suffered 
no serious intrusion from the enemy. 

Many of the soldiers from Warrick county belonged to com- 
panies organized in other parts of the State, but of the volunteer 
companies composed almost wholly of soldiers from this county 
we are enabled to present the following accounts of their respec- 
tive movements : 

COMPANY E, I20TH INDIANA VOLUNTEERS. 

Company E went into camp at Vincennes in February and 
was mustered into the service about the first of March, 1864. 
The following named persons were elected the officers of the 
company : 

Captain — Thos. J. Downs. 

First Lieutentant — Wm. Helder. 

Second Lieutenant — James Dailey. 

Orderly Sergeant — Daniel W. Brown. 

It then went to Indianapolis and after remaining there a few 

days went by way of Jeffersonville to Louisville and thence to 

Park Barracks, about three miles from the city, where it remained 
6 



50 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

a short time anil then went to Nashville about the first of April. 
As the regiment left the depot it became very dark, and by the 
time we reached a suitable place to camp a heavy rain was fall- 
ing. Some put up no tents at all, but wrapped their blankets 
about them and laid down on the damp earth to rest their weary 
bodies. The company remained in camp but a short time until 
orders were received to go to Charleston, Tennessee, on the Hi- 
wasa river. This march lasted several days and it almost wore 
" the boys" out. On the march through Tennessee the soldiers 
threw away considerable clothing and blankets to lessen their 
burdens. From Charleston the company went into the campaign 
which resulted in the taking of Atlanta, Georgia. They then 
went into camp at Decatur, Georgia, about ten miles from At- 
lanta, and from there they moved to Altoona, but were too late 
to participate in the heavy skirmish which took place at that 
point. The regiment next started in pursuit of General Hood, 
following to Dalton, Georgia, where it took the cars for Nashville 
and from Nashville went to Pulaski, Tennessee. There it took 
the hack track lo Lynnville, Tennessee; thence to Columbia, in 
the same State, where we stopped a few days, during which 
time details from our own company were engaged in some heavy 
skirmishing with the enemy. During a skirmish one morning, 
facob Rheinhart, of our company, was killed. We fell bark l<> 
Spring Hill, Tennessee, where the right wing of our regiment, 
including our company, was engaged in a heavy skirmish. 
From there we moved to Franklin, Tennessee, after night, and 
were engaged in the battle at that place from 4:30 o'clock until 
1 1 o'clock at night, after which we went to Nashville, this time 
with General Hood in our rear, where we were engaged in battle 
two days. We then went to Franklin again in pursuit of the en- 
emy, and from there to Columbia, where we waited several days 
for orders. Orders came to move to Clifton, Tennessee, 



Warrick in the War. 51 

and there we embarked on board a steamer for Cincinnati, and 
from there we went to Washington, D. C, where we again 
awaited orders, which came at last. We then took passage for 
Morehead, N. C, and from there we proceeded up the country 
to Newburn, thence to where we were engaged in considerable 
of a battle near Kinston, N. C. From there we proceeded to 
Goldsboro, and on up the road to Raleigh, the capitol. Then 
we took up our line of march for Greensboro, where General 
Joe E. Johnson was in camp, and where he finally surrendered. 
We stayed here but a short time when orders came to proceed to 
Charlotte, which we did by rail. We were stationed there a 
month or so and were then ordered back to Greensboro, where 
we remained at least two months. Then we returned to Raleigh, 
where we staid nearly all winter, and it was here that we received 
orders to repair to the capitol of our State to be mustered out of 
the service. 



COMPANY I, 25TH INDIANA VOLUNTEERS. 

Campany I, of the 25th Indiana Volunteer Regiment, was or- 
ganized in Newburgh, Indiana, on the 8th day of July, 186 1, 
and went into Camp Vanderburgh the next day. It was mus- 
tered into the United States service by Major Wood, on the 9th 
day of August, 1861, and was transferred, with the regiment, to 
St. Louis, where we remained in camp for instruction about one 
month. While in St. Louis the captain resigned, and James S. 
Marks was elected to fill his place. We then moved to Jefferson 
City, Missouri, remaining there but a few days. We were then 
ordered to relieve the garrison at Lexington, Missouri, but on ar- 
riving at Georgetown we learned that the Fort had surrendered. 
We remained in camp about Georgetown and Otterville until the 
' movement against Springfield, Missouri. We joined the main 
army at that place, and started upon the return march the next 
day. We participated in the capture of the Blackwater prison- 



52 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

ers, and were assigned the duty of guarding them to St. Louis. 
Here the first lieutenant of the company resigned and Robert 
Brodie was appointed to fill the vacancy. About the middle of 
January, 1862, we were transferred to Grant's army at Cairo, 
Illinois, and embarked up the Tennessee river to Fort Henry. 
We lead the first assault on the works at Fort Donaldson and after 
its fall marched to Shiloh and participated in the two days' light- 
ing. In this battle three of our men, John Ingle, John Taylor 
and James Connell were killed, while three others, Jacob Rash, 
John Ranee and A. J. Goad, received fatal wounds. First 
Lieutenant Robertson was slightly wounded and Second Ser- 
geant West, severely. After the battle the captain and first lieu- 
tenant resigned, and second lieutenant J. P. Johnson was pro- 
moted to the captaincy, J. S. Robertson, first lieutenant, and H. 
C. West, second lieutenant. We were in the seige of Corinth, 
Mississippi, and after its evacuation we marched to Holly Springs, 
Mississippi, thence to Lagrange and Memphis, Tennessee, where 
we were kept on provost duty for eighl months. We joined 
General Grant's movement against Vicksburg by way of Canton 
and Jackson. Our regiment was left at Davis' Mills, twenty-five 
miles from Holly Springs, to hold the railroad and keep open 
communication with the army. While here we were attacked by 
Van Dorn with 5,000 men, whom we repulsed with heavy loss, 
without losing a single man ourselves. We again marched to 
Bolivar, Tennessee. While at Bolivar the rebels, under Price 
and Van Dorn, attacked our forces at Corinth, and thej were put 
to flight. The forces at Bolivar, under Generals Hulbuit and 
Veatch, were sent in pursuit of Lhe Confederates. The)- over- 
took and again routed them on the Hatchie river, about sixty 
miles from Bolivar, Tennessee. Being now cleared of Confed- 
erates we were ordered to Memphis, where we embarked on 
steamers for Vicksburg, Mississippi. Arriving at Vicksburg 



Warrick in the War. 53 

we started immediately on the march for Meridian, Mississippi. 
On our return the company re-enlisted at Canton, Mississippi, on 
the 1 8th of February, 1864, and came home on a fifty days' fur- 
lough in March, 1864. The regiment again re-organized below 
Evansville and embarked on the steamer Armada for Cairo, Il- 
linois, where we were ordered to Nashville, Tennessee, from 
whence we were sent to Decatur, Alabama, and there we re- 
mained until the first of August, 1864, when we joined the army 
in front of Atlanta. After the capture of Atlanta, Captain John- 
son resigned and First Lieutenant Robertson was appointed to 
fill the vacancy. We took part in the battle at Jonesboro, Geor- 
gia, and the chase after Hood, and fought at Snake Creek Gap, 
and we went with Sherman to the sea. At Bentonville, South 
Carolina, John Fritenberg was killed. Captain Robertson re- 
signed and was succeeded by W. F. Martin, and Peter Saber- 
cool was made first lieutenant. We marched through North and 
South Carolina, and Virginia to Washington, D. C. , and were 
then sent to Louisville, Kentucky, were we were mustered out. 
The company lost during the service sixty-six men, killed, wound- 
ed and died of disease. — From Edwin Adams' History of ]l',n 
rick County. 



COMPANY I, 53D INDIANA VOLUNTEER INFANTkV. 

The original organization of this company consisted of seven- 
ty-two enlisted men, two musicians, eight corporals, live ser- 
geants and three commissioned officers — a total of ninety men. 
During the term of service in the field one hundred and one ad- 
ditional recruits were assigned to the company to fill up the places 
in the ranks made vacant by death, discharge and desertion. 
The total number of men who were identified with the company 
during our term of service was one hundred and ninety one. 
The company was recruited in the fall and winter of 186 1-2 for 
Col. Wm. Jones' 62d regiment, but owing to a failure to recruit 



54 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

a full regiment the 621! was consolidated with the 53d, W. Q. 
Gresham, receiving the position of colonel and Wm. Jones the 
lieutenant colonel's. 

The organization of the company was as follows : 
WM. S. LANGFORD, Capt. BEN'J. FULLER, 1st. Lieu! 

DAVID WHITE, 2d. Lieut. S. M. DAVIS, 1st. Serg t. 

CHAS. DILLINGHAM, 2d Serg't. WM GERHART, 3d Se 
NATH. MATHEWS, 4th Serg't. G. P. WILLIAMS, 5th Serg'1 
The following named persons, all of Boonville, were corporals 
of the company : 

Samuel A. Stroud, Israel Mills, Phillip Nonweiler, S. F. Mc- 
Laughlin, B. F. Small, Moses Shaul, J. S. Lowe and S. G. Clut- 
ter. 

Albeit Rowe and Wesley Wilson were the musicians. 
Our first camp was near Rockport, on a Mr. Jeff Snider's 
farm. It was known as "Camp Reynolds." The barracks were 
of our own build, made from logs, cut in an adjacent wood, put 
up, covered, chinked and daubed in old pioneer style by the 
members of the company. The winter up to the latter part of 
February, [862, was spent in this camp recruiting and drilling 
preparatory to entering the field. About the 20th of February, 
1862, we were ordered aboard the steamer John T. M( Combs 
for Camp Noble, near New Albany, for consolidation, final mus 
ter and completion of our regimental organization. Company B 
of the 62d was assigned the position of Company I, 53d. At 
ter leaving New Albany on the 24th we went to Camp Morton, 
Indianapolis, to guard the prisoners from fort Donaldson, where 
we staid about one month. We went from then- to St. Louis on 
the railroad, and from St. Louis to Savannah, Tennessee, on the 
Tennessee river, at which place we arrived about the last of 
March and remained about one month. We were at this point 
when the battle ofShiloh was fought — in hearing of the battle all 



Warrick in the War. 55 

day Sunday and Monday. General Grant's headquarters were 
at this point, together with considerable government stores, 
which our regiment was left to guard. Wra. Horger died at this 
place June 20th. Nothing of special interest occurred during 
our stay at Savannah. Peter Collins was detailed as a clerk at 
General Grant's headquarters. Several of the boys took French 
leave, among the number some of our non-commissioned officers, 
and visited Pittsburgh Landing. The consequence was the non- 
commissioned officers were reduced to ranks and the privates put 
on extra duty from Savannah. We went to Pittsburgh Landing, 
arriving at night. Peter Barth, in stepping from our boat to an- 
other, missed his footing and fell between the boats. Having his 
knapsack and cartridge box on he sunk at once and was 
drowned. Our regiment was now assigned to General Veatch's 
brigade, in General Hulburt's division. We at once joined the 
army in die advance on Corinth. At a camp known as "Pea 
Ridge," Nathan Sutton died. Ail the month of May was 
spent in the advance on Corinth. Governor Morton visited the 
Indiana troops during the month, inquiring after the welfare 
and needs of the men. He was hailed everywhere with cheers 
that awoke the " sleeping Johnnies." On the night of May 29th 
Captain Langford came through the company and ordered every 
man to sleep with his clothing and cartridge box on and his gun 
by his side, as in the morning 5,000 Indians were going to charge 
our works and that we might expect bloody work when they 
came, but it seemed that the Captain was more alarmed than 
the men. The Indians did not come. Next morning, May 30th, 
our last advance was made, works thrown up and a general 
sharp skirmish kept up all day. Just as our works were finished 
a deer came bounding out of the rebel lines through our picket 
line, jumped the breast works and lit among the men in the line. 
He was soon killed and furnished a dainty morsel for a hungry 



56 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

soldier. At night the Confederates evacuated the stronghold, 
and on the 2d of June we marched through the town of Corinth 
and started in the direction of Memphis. James Sims died June 
20th at Corinth. We camped a few days ten miles west of Corinth, 
where we received our first pay, in greenbacks, gold and silver. 
Our march was continued west to Grand Junction, where we went 
in camp one mile south of the town. At this camp William Marts 
died. From here we went to Holly Springs, and returning spent 
our Fourth of July in the town. We went from there to La- 
grange and camped at a place called the Sand Hill, west of town 
on Wolf river. We made another march to Holly Springs, dis- 
tant eighteen miles, in search of Chalmers, " the guerrilla chief." 
Our next march was to Memphis, where we arrived some time 
during the last of July, so ragged that it was almost a breach of 
common decency to march through the city in daylight. We 
camped first five miles below the city on the bluff opposite Pres- 
ident Island. At this camp Lieutenant Ben Fuller left us on ac- 
count of sickness, and he resigned soon after. Lieutenant David 
White had been transferred to General Veatch's staff; Captain 
Wm. S. Langford was the only officer in command. We drew 
clothing, changed our camp and started out on a scouting expe- 
dition to Noncomah creek, on the Hernando road. We made 
several other reconnoisances from Memphis. About the first of 
September we were ordered to Bolivar, Tenn., at which place 
we remained until October 4th, when we were ordered to march 
in the direction of Corinth to intercept Price, who was retreating 
before General ( '.rant. October 5th, we met the enemy and fought 
a battle at Davis' bridge, on the Hatchie river. Company I 
lost in this engagement two killed and five wounded. James 
Moore was struck in the legs by a grape shot and died in a few 
minutes. Solomon Severs was shot through the heart and 
killed instantly. Captain Langford, Nathan Matthews, John 



Warrick in the War. 57 

Hotchkiss, Norman Taylor and Hiram Ellis were wounded, but 
all recovered. The Confederates were driven back with a loss 
of their wagon train, a battery of artillery and 1,000 stands of 
arms. On the 7th we started on our return for Bolivar, where 
we remained in camp until about the tst of November, when we 
started south through Lagrange, Holly Springs, W.iterford and 
Oxford to Coffeeville, Miss., where we remained but a short 
time until we returned to Waterford station, at which place we re- 
mained about two weeks. Our Christmas was spent at this 
place, and a dreary Christmas it was. Our supplies had been 
destroyed by Van Dorn and we were compelled to live off the 
country. Salt was not to be found in that part of Dixie, so we 
scraped up the salt that had been in the salt-beef and pork bar- 
rels and thrown away on our trip down, to season the cow peas 
that now constituted the principal article of diet with us. We 
also got a little meal which was ground from corn obtained 
in the country. About the end of the first week in Janu- 
ary, 1863, we again started north, passed through Holly Springs 
and Moscow. We made two or three trips between Moscow 
and Lafayette, and finally went to Collierville, where we guarded 
the railroad until the middle of March. 

At Collierville we were again paid off. Steven Vincent died 
here of small-pox. From here we went to Memphis. We next 
embarked on transports for Vicksburg to join in the seige and 
battles around that place. We landed at Young's Point, marched 
across the point, got on board the boats below and went to Grand 
Gulf; but Grant was too far on the road to Jackson to catch up 
with him. We returned to Young's Point and went up the Ya- 
zoo river to Haine's Bluffs. From there we went to the extreme 
southern part of the line investing the city, where we took our 
position and held it until the final surrender July 4, 1863. Im- 
mediately after the fall of Vicksburg our company went with the 



58 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

expedition to Jackson, Miss., which place was evacuated by the 
( 'mi federates on the night of July 16. We returned again to 
Vicksburg, where we remained but a few days until we were or- 
dered to Natchez, Miss. The balance of the summer and fall 
were spent at this place. On several occasions Company I was 
sent out scouting in pursuit of guerillas and cotton burners. We 
went on an expedition to Louisiana, a distance of sixty miles, 
captured Fort Beauregard, on Washitaw river, destroyed 
it, and returned. Our camp at Natchez was first on Mr. 
North's farm, a short distance from the town, but we soon 
removed to the bluff in Juniper Park. Uncle John McDaniel 
died at Natchez. This was the most beautiful camp we oc- 
cupied during the war. We were again paid off here. Sev- 
eral members of Company I were detailed to guard prisoners to 
New Orleans. At the mouth of Red river the boat was fired 
into by a 12 gun rebel battery. The boat was disabled, but was 
rescued by the U. S. gunboats before the Confederates could des- 
troy it. From Natchez we again went to Vicksburg and camped 
eleven miles east, at what was known as Camp Hebron In the 
early part of 1864 we joined Sherman's expedition to Jackson 
and Meridian. During this expedition and after our return to 
Camp Hebron thirty-five of the original ninety re enlisted and 
were granted a thirty days' furlough and started north for God's 
country. While on the boat we were again paid off. At the ex- 
piration of our furlough we reported to New Albany ; from there- 
by steamer to Cairo, Illinois ; thence to Paducah, where we 
waited two or three days for all our fleet to come up. While 
lying at Paducah, Albert Rowe, our drummer, got into a difficulty 
with a drunken man who was imposing on him, when Albert 
drew his revolver and shot him twice, not dangerously, however. 
From here we went to Clifton on the Tennessee river, where we 
disembarked and started overland to join Sherman's army, then 



Warrick in the War. 59 

advancing from Chattanooga. Our line of march was through 
Pulaski, Huntsville, Decatur, Rome and Cartersville, to Ack- 
worth, where we joined the army and went on the line at Big 
Shanty, Georgia, (the place where General Mitchell's scouts 
stole the locomotives from the Confederacy and attempted the 
breaking up of their communication) when sharp and earnest 
work commenced. After driving the Confederates from their 
temporary line at Big Shanty, their next stand was at Kenesaw 
mountain. Our position was just to the left of the Chattanooga 
and Atlanta R. R. A constant skirmish and artillery fire was 
kept up by both sides until the morning of June 27 th, when Gen 
eral Sherman ordered a general assault along the whole line, but 
in our front only the picket line advanced. Company I was on 
picket that morning when the brigade commander sent orders to 
Lieut. David White, who was in command of the Company, to 
deploy his Company and charge the mountain at ten o'clock. 
All on the line knew the terrible consequences of such an order, 
but like true soldiers, when the order was given, "Attention, 
Company ! as skirmishers, to the right and left deploy. Forward, 
double quick, march !" they bounded from their hiding places, 
formed in line almost like magic and away through the broom 
sage and small sassafras, across the railroad track, over a rail 
fence almost to the rebel picket line, when the order was given 
to " Halt ! and lie down." On looking the field over after the 
evacuation it seemed almost impossible that any man could make 
that charge and live. This was truly a day of sorrow for Com- 
pany I and many tender hearts here in Indiana were made to 
bleed over the fearful consequence of that bloody days' work. 
Company I jumped from the skirmish pits on the reception of the 
order to advance with thirty-two men and two commissioned offi- 
cers. Of that number eighteen came back unhurt. Lieut. David 
White, one of the most promising young officers in the regiment, 



60 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

the joy of a widowed mother's home, the favorite of a large cir- 
cle of young people, truly one of nature's noblemen, was mortally 
wounded, and when the order was given to retreat, lie implored 
one of the boys in passing t<> shoot him and end his terrible suf- 
fering at once. He died on 'lie spot where he fell. His re- 
mains were subsequently brought hack to Indiana by his cousin, 
John T. White, who succeeded him as commander of the com- 
pany. Thomas Vincent, Robert Wilkinson, Conrad Mann, \\'il 
liam H. Raisch, Jno. S. Knight, Drummond Carse and Duncan 
Neeves, were killed; William Gerhart, Henry Lang, Nicholas 
Keith, James M. Ikard and Lieutenant Charles H. Dillingham 
were wounded. Boon Laslie, James Lee and Ben Whittinghill 
were captured. Lee and Laslie both died in prison and Whit- 
tinghill was so emaciated by ill-treatment and starvation that he 
could scarcely walk when he got out of prison. This day's 
work left us with but eighteen- men and no commissioned officer. 
Sergeant John T. White now assumed command of the company. 
From this point we went to the extreme right of the line on what 
is called the Sand Town road. On the 5th if July we formed a 
line of battle in the morning and advanced live miles in line over 
the roughest, bushiest, hilliest country in Georgia. We started 
up Joe Brown and his Georgia militia two or three times dur- 
ing the day. Aboul an hour before sunset we came on the en- 
emy in pretty strong force. A general charge was ordered, but 
a deej), impassable creek, called Nick-a-Jack, just in front of a 
heavy line of works, put an end to the charge. We fell back a 
few rods and threw up fortifications. On the evening of the 
10th, just at sun-set, the whole of the rebel artillery was turned 
loose on us at once, and here we got the most furious shelling we 
had during the war; but little damage to life was done, however. 
From here we went to the extreme left of the army and crossed 
the Chatahoochee river at a little town called Roswell. On the 



Warrick in the War. 61 

20th and 21st of July we were engaged in heavy skirmishing. 
On the 21st Phillip Nonweiler was wounded in the hip, from 
which he died. Arnold Wcstfall was also wounded. On the 
following day, July 22d, was fought the severest battle of the ram 
paign. In this day's battle Company I lost James A. Keith, 
Thomas Leech and James K. Crowder, killed ; Moses Shaul, 
Romey Perigo, and Nicholas Taylor, wounded. Nicholas 
Taylor was captured and died in prison. Samuel Crow and Na- 
than Matthews were also captured and taken to Anderson vi He 
prison. Crow died in prison. Col. Win. Jones was killed by a 
cannon ball (which struck him in the head, leaving not a spoon- 
full of brain in the cavity of the skull. The ball struck just above 
the eyes, leaving the face recognizable, but tearing away the en- 
tire skull) after being wounded in the leg by a musket ball. This 
was the day McPherson, the " beloved of the army," fell. John 
A. Logan succeeded to his command, winning the gratitude of 
the arm) for his conduct during the remainder of the day. From 
this position we were again transferred to the extreme right of 
the line, where we laid in one position for thirty days. July 
20th Geo. Shepard and Amos Hart were wounded. At this 
camp Captain Langford resigned at the request of the company. 
August 28th Peter Korb was wounded in the arm. Our company 
moved with the army that passed to the rear of Hood and fol- 
lowed him to Lovejoy station. After the evacuation of Atlanta 
we followed Hood in his march North to Galesville, Alabama, 
where we retraced our steps to Merietta, where we were paid off, 
and on the 13th of November we started on Sherman's famous 
march to the sea. Sam McLaughlin, who had been detailed 
with the 7th Ohio battery, was captured by bushwackers, just as 
we were ready to start, and taken to Anderson prison, where 
he was kept until March following, when he made his escape 
and joined the company near Cheraw, South Carolina. Nothing 



62 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

of special interest occurred during the march of thirty days 
through an enemy's country with no communication with the 
outside world. We fared well on the march — no sickness, but 
little lighting and plenty to eat. Arrived at Savannah December 
13; it was evacuated December 20. We staid but a short time at 
Savannah until we were transferred to Beaufort, South Carolina, 
which place we left January 27, I865, and on the 30th we came 
nn to the Confederates at Pocotaligo station, on the Savannah 
and Charleston R. R. We drove them away. Our march was 
continued on to Columbia, at which place we arrived on the 
morning of February 27th. The bridge over the Congoree 
river was burned and Wade Hampton occupied the city. 
Company I was detailed as skirmishers to go down imme- 
diately to the river bank and ascertain if it was possible 
to wade the river, which we soon found to be an im- 
possibility. Pontoon bridges were built during the day 
and by night all had crossed over. During the night the city 
was burned, and in the morning our march was resumed through 
South Carolina to Fayetteville, N. C, where we met a gun- 
boat from Wilmington, which brought us our mail — the 
first since January 30th, this being March 13th. Our march 
was resumed in the direction of Goldsboro. At Bentonville, on 
the 19th, we met Joe Johnson, and a part of the army became 
warmly engaged, but our company failed to get into the en- 
gagement. At night the Confederates retreated in the direction 
of Raleigh. Our column was headed for Goldsboro, where we 
met the army of Scofield from Wilmington. At this camp, those 
who did not re-enlist were discharged and started for home. 
After a short stay we started in pursuit of Johnson, who had 
stopped at Raliegh; but when we reached the city Johnson had 
retreated to Greensboro. At this point we received the news 
of President Lincoln's assassination. We recived the news of 



Warrick in the War. 63 

the surrender of Gen. Lee, on the march from Goldsboro to 
Raleigh. After the surrender of Johnson we started overland, 
by way of Petersburgh, Richmond, Fredericksburgh and Alex- 
andria, for Washington, where we camped but a short time until 
we were ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, by way of the Bal- 
timore & Ohio railroad, to Parkersburgh, Virginia, thence by 
boat to Louisville, where we staid until July 21st. At this 
camp, John T. White was commissioned captain ; John S. 
Lowe, first lieutenant; Norman Taylor, second lieutenant, 
although they had been filling the respective positions for some 
time. Charles Dillingham was appointed first and Nathan 
Matthews, second lieutenants, but owing to disability from 
wounds received by both, and imprisonment of Matthews, 
neither of them were mustered in and qualified for their respec- 
tive appointments. From Louisville we went to Camp Carring- 
tun, near Indianapolis, where we were paid off August 5th, 
1865. After four years association, as members of Company "I," 
we separated. 

In this hastily written sketch there are doubtless errors, and 
some matters that would be of interest omitted, but considering 
the fact that it is nineteen years ago since the beginning of this 
narrative, the survivors will pardon errors and omissions. To 
those members of the company who are living it will be a mat- 
ter of interest to them as being almost a personal history, and 
perhaps a fuller one than will ever be written of their almost 
four years' service in the army. To the relatives of those 
who died of disease while in the service and since their return 
home, and especially to the relatives of those who were killed 



64 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

on the field of battle, or died in the prison pen ; to the rela- 
tives of 

JAMES MOORE. THOMAS LEECH, 

DAVID WHITE, DUNCAN NEEVES, 

SOLOMON SEVERS, MtUMMOND CARSE, 

ROMEY PERIGO, THOMAS VINCENT, 

PHILLIP NONWEILER, WILLIAM H RAISCH, 

ROBERT WILKINSON, CONRAD MANN. 

JAMES A. KEITH, JAMES K. CROWDER, 

who were killed in action or died shortly after being wounded ; to 
the relatives of Boon Laslie, James Lee and Nicholas Taylor, 
who died in prison, this sketch will be of especial interest. 
Respectfully, 

W. WILSON, 
Late a member of Company L Fifty-third Indiana. 



COMPALY K, 42I) INDIANA VOLUNTEERS. 

Was organized on the 20th of September, 1861, and mus- 
tered into service on the 11th of October, 1861, with the follow- 
ing officers : 

DANIEL G.THOMPSON, Capl LAMMS II. MASTERS, 1st. Lieu! 

THOS. L. DENNY, 2nd Lieut. ED. M. KNOWLES, 1st. Serg't. 

NOYCE WHITE, 2nd Serg't. LEM'L W. FRENCH, 3rd Serg't. 

EMORY JOHNSON, III: Serg't. J. E. CARNAHAN, 5th Serg'I 

Whole company, ninety-eight men. 

Routes, first year — ("amp Vanderburgh to Henderson, Ken 
tucky; thence to Calhoun; thence to South Carrolton, and re- 
turned to Calhoun; thence to Owensboro, and from there to 
Nashville, Tennessee, on transports, where Lieutenant Denny 
resigned and Edmud M. Knowles was promoted Second Lieu- 
tenant. Thence the regiment followed in the wake of Gen. 
Mitchell's division, to Huntsville, Alabama. On this route, at 
Wartrace, Tennessee, a part of the company were in a fight 



Warrick in the War. 65 

when Sergeants White and Carnahan, and Christopher Bra- 
shears, George VV. Floyd and others were wounded — the last 
three mentioned, so as to be discharged and disabled for the 
balance of the war. 

After lying at Huntsville until the 23d of August, 1862, came 
the long notorious retreat of Buell to Louisville, Kentucky, ar- 
riving there on the 20th of September, 1862. Then they com- 
menced the pursuit of the rebel army under Bragg, and on the 
8th of October, 1862, the battle of Perry ville was fought, and 
there was killed of company K, on the field, Oliver Buzzing- 
ham — some died of wounds. Three of the wounded, James 
Humphrey, George L. Masters, and Young Reed are yet living. 

Second Year's Routes and Changes — On the 8th of Novem- 
ber, 1862, James H. Masters was promoted Captain, vice Daniel 
G. Thompson, resigned ; Edmund M. Knowles was promoted 
First Lieutenant, vice Masters, promoted ; Emory Johnson was 
promoted Second Lieutenant, vice Knowles, promoted, and 
Tilotson M. Neves was made First Sergeant. 

Then came the march via Nashville to Stone river, where, 
on the 31st of December, 1862, commenced that sanguinary 
conflict known as the battle of Stone river. Company K, lost 
—killed — on that day, almost at the same instant, Rinaldo Ed- 
wards and Warrick Clifford. Among the seventy wounded on 
that day were Alvis Ashley, John Coleman, John Ross and 

Martin. After this battle we remained with the main 

army until we moved forward under Gen. Rosencrans through 
Northern Alabama and Georgia to the great battle of Chicka- 
mauga, where Miles Matthews and First Lieutenant Edmund 
M. Knowles were made prisoners of war. Miles Matthews, 
one of the best of soldiers, died in Andersonville prison, and 
Lieutenant Edmund M. Knowles was killed outright while a 
prisoner of war. 



66 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Third Year's Changes — Next came the sweeping victory of 
Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, of which our com- 
pany, as a part of the First Brigade, First Division, Fourteenth 
Army Corps, took part. Among the wounded were Thomas 
W. Lacer, dangerously, and Ephriam Y. Perigo, slightly. 

On the last of January, 1864, our company re-enlisted, and 
there were still able for service twenty-seven men out of the 
ninety-eight who were first enrolled — all of whom veteranized, 
when we had a short furlough home, and then went back to the 
front at Chattanooga, Tennessee. 

In April, 1864, our company and regiment commenced ad- 
vancing with Gen. Sherman on that almost unceasing battle 
from Goldsboro to Atlanta, Georgia. Among the veterans of 
company K, on the nth of April, 1864, Ephraim Brash ears was 
wounded in the leg and made a cripple for life. On the 14th of 
May, George L. Masters was seriously wounded in the right 
lung and through the right shoulder, and made a cripple for 
life. On the 22d of July, 1864, Captain James H. Masters, 
was crippled for life by a gun-shot wound in the right shoulder, 
and Lieutenant Emory Johnson was killed almost instantly by 
a ball passing through his lungs. In a (ew days afterwards, per- 
haps on the 7th of August, Sergeant Win. Stuckey and Pleas- 
ant Shepherd were also killed. So rapidly fell the veterans of 
of our company that the late history of the company is not so 
exactly known. The company, however, was recruited and 
started in on its fourth year, when Tilolson M. Neves was 
promoted Captain, vice Masters discharged; Ephraim Y. Perigo 
was promoted First Lieutenant, vice Knovvles, killed; John D. 
Linxwiller, promoted Second Lieutenant, vice Johnson killed. 
The company was discharged at an early period by the dis- 
bandment of the army after the surrender of Lee. 



Warrick in the War. 67 

Among those that died of disease contracted in the army, 

were Wesley Spillman, Reason Barrett, Lewis, C. M. 

Williams, Absalom B. Hendson, and Joseph D. Lemasters. 
— [Edwin Adams' History of Warrick County. 



COMPANY E, 65TH INDIANA VOLUNTEERS 

Was mustered into the United States service on the 18th of 
August, 1862. The original company organization was as fol- 
lows: 

EDWARD A. BAKER, Capt. JOHN W. HAMMOND, 1st Lieut, 

THOS. N. MASTERS, 2d Lieut. ROBERT BRODIE, Orderly Serg't. 

JACOB V. ADMIRE, 1st Serg't. JAMES B. CARTER, '2d Serg't. 

SALVIN COLLINS, 3d Serg't- REES YOUNG, 4th Serg't- 

Corporals — First, William Selby ; Second, Thomas A. Low- 
rance; Third, Jessie Willis; Fourth, George W. Jones; Fifth, 
Wm. R. Stephens; Sixth, Charles E. Jarrett; Seventh, Daniel 
A. Bohanan ; Eighth, Adolphus W. Walden. 

Musicians — Martin S. Harmon and Alexander Jordon. 

Wagoner — Robert R. Baker. 

Company E served one year in Kentucky, with headquarters 
at Henderson, during which time the company guarded 1,000 
prisoners to Camp Chase and Johnson's Island. In April, 
1863, the company were mounted by order of Gen. Boyle, and 
received marching orders for East Tennessee, and were among 
the first troops to enter Knoxville on the 1st of September, 1863. 
J. W. Hammond was promoted to Captain of Company K; Ser- 
geant J. V. Admire was promoted to Second Lieutenant in 
April, 1863, and March 1st, 1864, to First Lieutenant; Sergeant 
J. B. Carter was promoted to Second Lieutenant. September 
21st, 1864, Lieutenant J. B. Carter was discharged on surgeon's 
certificate of disability, and Martin S. Harmon was promoted 
from Sergeant to First Lieutenant. First Sergeant Bailey Hick- 
man was promoted to Second Lieutenant. 



68 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Company E participated in the pursuit of Colonel John 
Morgan and followed him as far as Louisville, Kentucky. 
*The first engagement in which the company participated was 
the battle of Blountville, Tennessee, in October, 1863, in which 
Geo. W. White was killed. The company was engaged at 
Been's Station, in November, 1863, in which engagement 
James Nickolson was killed. At the close of the East Tennes- 
see campaign, the company was dismounted and placed in the 
Third Division of the Twenty-third Army Corps, and fought 
through the Georgia campaign under Gen. Sherman. On the 
28th of August, 1865, Captain J. V. Admire took command of 
the company, Captain Baker having been assigned to the com- 
mand of the regiment. On the 28th day of September, 1864, 
the company, with a small detail from the regiment, one hun- 
dred and twenty-five men, all told, under the command of Major 
Baker, fought five hundred rebel cavalry, near Decatur, Geor- 
gia, and repulsed them with heavy loss — the company bringing 
off their dead and wounded — among whom was Lieutenant 
Martin S. Harmon. For their gallant services on this occa- 
sion they received a complimentary order from General I. D. 
Cox. During the Georgia campaign the company participated 
in the following named battles: Resacca, Pumpkin Vine Ridge, 
Snake Creek Gap, Kenesaw Mountain, Ringold and Burnt 
Hickory. 

After the fall of Atlanta, the 65th Indiana was transferred to 

General Thomas' army, and made the campaign against Hood, 

in Tennessee, participating in the battles of Columbia, Spring 

Hill, Franklin, add Nashville, and followed Hood's retreating 

army to Clifton, Tennessee, where the company took a boat for 

Cincinnati, Ohio, thence to Washington City by rail. After re- 

*The first engagement of Company E was really with ;\ band of'guer- 
illasal Madisonvifle, Kentucky, on August 25th, 1862. 



Warrick in the War. o9 

ceiving an outfit at Washington City the company was sent to 
Federal Point, North Carolina, and there led the advance at the 
storming of Fort Fisher, and participated in all the battles in 
North Carolina, under General Schofield, and was present at the 
surrender of Jo. Johnson's army. 

After the fighting was all over, the company lay in camp at 
Greensboro, North Carolina, until mustered out in July. From 
Greensboro, the company traveled by rail to Indianapolis, In- 
diana, where the men were paid and received their discharges, 
having been in the service two years and eleven months. 

The following is a list of the killed in battle : George W. 
White, James Nickolson, James Hale, James W. Clark, and 
Perry T. Moore. 

The following named members of the Company, died while 
in the service : George W. Biers, Isom Blankenship, Solomon 
Cox, James Donaldson, Abraham Eby, James Fields, Samuel 
Goodwin, Alexander H. Jordan, Joseph Lowrence, Jas F. Tur- 
pin, Nicholas Taylor, William Wallace and Joseph C. Wood. — 
[Edwin Adams' History of Warrick County. 



COMPANY H, 25TH INDIANA VOLUNTEERS 

Was principally enlisted at Newburgh, in the county of War- 
rick, and organized on the first day of August, 1861, by Col. 
Wood. The original company organization was as follows : 

JOHN H. DARBY, Capt. DOHUS FELLOWS, 1st Lieut, 

CHARLES LUCAS, 2d Lieut SPENCER WEBSTER. 1st Serg't. 

WM J KEITH, 2d Serg't JOSHUA P. DAVIS, 3d Serg't. 

V. L. CHAPMAN, 4th Serg't- E. L. WILLIAMS, 5th Serg't. 

Corporals — First, Henry W. Knowles ; Second, Samuel Alex- 
ander ; Third, Wm. L. Haynie; Fourth, Albert Cox; Fifth, 
Daniel W. Mernt; Sixth, George L. Robertson; Seventh, John 
Hawley ; Eighth, Jesse Hickman. 

Musicians — Isaac D. Hall and James A. McGill. 

Wagoner — Horace Walters. 



70 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Captain Darby resigned, August 20th, 1861, and Lieutenant 
Dorus Fellows was appointed to fill the vacancy, and the other 
promotions, in their usual order, were made. The company did 
its share of fighting, and underwent all the trials, and suffered 
all the injuries usual to a warm and active campaign. It veteran- 
ized and remained in the service until July 6th, 1865, when it 
was mustered out. — [Edwin Ada /its' History of Warrick County. 



BIOGRAPHICAL PART. 



RATLIFF BOON. 

Hon. Ratliff Boon, ex-Governor of the State of Indiana, and 
for sixteen years Representative from the First Congressional 
District in the National House of Representatives, was born in 
Georgia, about the year 1780. He was a cousin of the great 
pioneer, Daniel Boone, and was also a son-in-law to Bailey An- 
derson, one of the earliest settlers of this county. His parents 
moved to Warren county, Kentucky, while he was very young, 
and at Danville, in that State, he learned the gunsmith's trade. 
In 1809 he came to Indiana Territory, through the influence of 
his kinsman, Bailey Anderson, and was probably the first to set- 
tle in what is now Boon township, this county, which was named 
in honor of him. The land upon which he settled and lived 
during his residence in Warrick county is situated about two 
miles west of Boonville. 

Colonel Boon was one of the most prominent men in Indiana 
during its early days, and held some of the highest offices with- 
in the gift of the people. His education was limited, but he was 
a man of extraordinary tact and sagacity. He possessed great 
force of character and had a manner of making loyal friends and 
bitter enemies. For several years he was Colonel of State mali- 
tia. Upon the organization of Warrick, as a territorial county, 
in 1 813, as the law at that time required, he was appointed 
Treasurer, which office he held until 1820. In 181 6, when In- 
diana was admitted into the Union, Boon was elected to repre- 
sent Warrick county in the first State Legislature. This was the 
beginning of his career as a politician, and he afterwards held 
various offices, covering a period of twenty-five years. He was 



72 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

twice elected Lieutenant Governor of Indiana, and during his 
lasi term in this office he filled an unexpired term as Chief Ex- 
ecutive of the State. He was elected to Congress eight different 
times, serving, in all, sixteen consecutive years. 

In 1839 he removed to Pike county, Missouri, and while a 
resident of that Stale he was defeated by Thomas H. Benton in 
caucus, as a candidate for United States Senator, after which he 
virtually retired from public life. However, he desired to live 
to see Polk elected President of the United States, and a few- 
hours after he received the news of his election, in 1846, he died. 

Colonel Boon was married to Miss Deliah Anderson, of Ken- 
tucky, daughter of Bailey Anderson. The fruits of this mar- 
riage were ten children, five boys and five girls, all of whom arc- 
now dead, except a daughter, living in Pike county, Missouri. 

The marked characteristics of Ratliff Boon's public life forci- 
bly reminds one of the back-woods statesman, Davy Crockett. 
It was his custom always to return home in the spring and "lay 
out" the corn rows for his sons, and he would then go back to 
Congress. In the annals of Warrick county history no man fig- 
ures more prominently than Ratliff Boon, and his career is one 
of which we may well be proud. 



GENERAL JOSEPH LANE. 
Few there are who have not heard of General Joe Lane, of 
Oregon, who, from an obscure fiat-boatman, on the Ohio river, 
has risen to some of the most prominent positions in the land. 
To-day he lives on the Pacific slope, far away from the scenes of 
his early struggles. He was born in North Carolina, in 1801, 
and was only six years of age when his father, John Lane, re- 
moved to Henderson county, Kentucky. What education he 
received was obtained, at intervals, in some log house, where a 
man, who knew his letters, acted as teacher. He was a sharp, 



General Joseph Lane. 73 

quick-witted boy, more fond of hunting than books, and, withal, 
was very popular with the pioneers, on account of his accommo- 
dating disposition. In 1818 his father removed to Vanderburgh 
county, Indiana,* and purchased a tract of land about nine 
miles above Evansville. Here Joseph was invited by Judge 
Grass, who kept a store near Rockport, to proceed there and act 
as a clerk in his establishment. He was at once regarded with 
favor by all who had business at the store, as he was well posted 
in stories of frontier life, and was kind and obliging. He next, 
in company with his brother Simon, bought a flat-boat, sold 
wood to the steamboats, as they passed ; made many trips to 
New Orleans, carried on a farm; dealt in stock, etc., until the 
breaking out of the Mexican war, when he began to secure re- 
cruits in Evansville and vicinity. Soon a large number of the 
hardy yeomanry were mustered into the second regiment, and 
with our subject as their Colonel was off for the scene of the 
war. His regiment was placed in the division commanded by 
General Taylor, and his exploits immediately attracted the at- 
tention of "Old Rough and Ready," who showed his confidence 
in the Indiana pioneer by making Colonel Lane a Brigadier 
General. General Lane was not only a brave man, but he was 
possessed of a knowledge of the Mexican style of fighting, and 
was an invaluable officer in that vigorous campaign, so success- 
fully managed by General Taylor. 

After the close of hostilities the President appointed him Gov- 

*The land upon which Mr. Lane settled was really in Warrick county 
at that time, but Hon. Ratlitf Boon, fearing that Joe Lane, who was a 
very popular youth at nineteen years of age, would seriously interfere 
with his political aspirations in this county, caused a strip of land to be 
transferred from the southeastern part of Warrick to the territory of 
Vanderburgh county, which included the farm that Mr. Lane had settled 
upon, thereby making Joe Lane ineligible to office in this county. By 
reference to the map, the reader will observe this apparent encroachment 
upon Warrick county territory by Vanderburgh . However, General Lane 
afterwards represented Warrick and Vanderburgh counties in the State 
Senate several terms in succession —Ed. W. and its P. P. 
9 



74 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

ernor of the Territory of Oregon, and upon the admission of 
Oregon into the Union, he was elected a Senator. General 
Lane was a delegate from Oregon to the Democratic Conven- 
tion which nominated Franklin Pierce for President in 1852. In 
t86o, General Lane was nominated for Vice President on the 
Breckenridge-Democratic ticket and his career in that memorable 
campaign is a part of the records of the country. General Lane 
was married, while living in Vanderburgh county, to Miss Mary 
Hart, daughter of Matthew Hart. Ten children were the result 
of this union, of whom only one has died. Taking him us a rep- 
resentative pioneer, we have presented this brief sketch of his 
life. His public services are a permanent part of our national 
history. — Evansville and its Men of Mark. 



A LETTER FROM GENERAL LANE. 

The following letter, which we have slightly abridged, from 
General Joseph Lane, while living at Rosenburg, Oregon, to A. 
T. Whittlesey, Esq., Secrelary of the Vanderburgh County His- 
torical and Biographical Society, contains many interesting inci- 
dents of his own life and reminiscences of prominent men and 
important events in the early history of Warrick and Vander- 
burgh counties. From it, much information can be gained 
regarding the old veteran's residence in this section, which is not 
given in the foregoing sketch of his life: 

"In 1814 my father settled on the Kentucky bank of the Ohio 
river, opposite the mouth of Cypress creek; the place afterwards 
owned by the McCormicks, and for aught I know, still belong- 
ing to some one of the family; be that as it may. We suc- 
ceeded in clearing off the cane and small timber, chopping 
around the big trees so as to deaden them, and put in cultiva- 
tion ten acres of that rich bottom land. The first year we raised a 
good crop of con\, a good garden, and some six hundred pounds 



General Joseph Lane. 75 

of cotton in the seed. Then, all families, not very rich, raised 
cotton and flax ; carded, spun, wove and made their own cloth- 
ing, sheeting and other necessary cloths. When our cotton was 
picked out of the boll and sacked, old Mr. Vanada, who lived 
on the bank of the river, three miles from us, proposed to furnish 
a skiff and with my help take the cotton of both parties to Hen- 
derson, then called Red Banks, where a Mr. McBride had put 
up a gin to pick the seeds from the cotton, and also a small 
carding machine to make the cotton into rolls, which, by the 
way, was at that time of great advantage to poor people. Well, 
in the fall of 1815, with our cotton loaded in the skiff, the good 
old gentleman and myself set out for Henderson. I did the 
rowing. 

"At nightfall we had reached the mouth of Green river; a 
slight head-wind prevailed, and finding myself a little tired I pro- 
posed to land ; but Mr. Vanada said : ' ' No, we must reach Hen- 
derson by morning." We ate a portion of our cold ham and 
corn bread, and I settled down to the oars, he held the tiller 
and on we went, rowing as hard as I could, the wind increased ; 
faithfully did I tug at the oars, but our progress was slow. As 
we commenced to turn McClain's point the wind took us fair, 
and the waves broke over the sides of our skiff. The old gen- 
tleman called out "Hard on the oars!" and headed our little 
boat quartering up the river. We made a landing not far from 
where Shanklin first opened his store. There we camped and 
slept till morning, the wind still blowing too hard for our little 
boat or the power that propelled it. As we could not go on, I 
took a ramble through the woods and brush, and for the first 
time looked over the land and site where now stands the beauti- 
ful and business city of Evansville, with its many churches, and 
school houses, and banks, and public edifices, with its daily 
lines of steamboats and railroads, and constant hurry and rush 



76 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

of business, and with its high state of civilization. Then how 
little did I think of the great future of the site where then, alone, 
I rambled ; could I then have foreseen it, with my uniform good 
health and energy, what a large fortune could now be mine ; 
perhaps Heaven directs ! My life has been one of action, and 
not of speculation ; directed in a different sphere, and although 
in that sphere I experienced much hardship, deep anxiety and 
severe wounds, from which I suffer much pain and inconveni- 
ence, it was necessary for the protection of our pioneers and the 
rapid progress of civilization that soon followed and spread all 
over the Pacific slope. But enough of this. 

"In the winter of that year, 1815, I obtained permission to go 
out and work for myself. Early in 181 6 I obtained work in 
Darlington, the county seat at that time of Warrick county. It 
was located one mile from the Ohio river, between Pigeon and 
Cypress creeks, and bordered on a long pond, that in winter 
afforded fine duck shooting, and in summer plenty of mosqui- 
toes, ague and bilious fever; quite as sickly as any place between 
1 .ouisville and New Orleans. 

"Myself, and several other young men, took a contract to cut, 
rili and deliver several hundred saw logs at Henderson, Ken- 
tucky, to Mr. Audubon, (subsequently known as the great 
ornithologist). lie had built and owned a very good steam saw 
mill, a little too soon for the times, which was one among other 
failures that caused him to quit business and turn his attention 
to that branch of science and literature in which he afterwards 
became famous. 

"It was while engaged in delivering logs and rowing back in 
our skiff that I got acquainted with every one who lived on the 
bank of the river, and especially did I get well acquainted with 
Col. Hugh Mc.Gary, and was rather pleased with him. He 
talked well on the subject of his town site and of the ultimate 



General Joseph Lane* 77 

greatness of his prospective city. With him, I walked over a 
portion of the land. A portion of it I had walked over the year 
before, solitary and alone ; I found him quite in earnest about 
his town. Not long after this he put up his hewed log house not 
far from Mitchell's corner, I think, near the spot where, some 
time after, James Lewis built his dwelling house. Upon this 
occasion we camped near his house, and he spent most of the 
night with us, and talked much and complained bitterly of Col. 
Ratlirf Boon, who was, as^he held, the only obstacle to his suc- 
cess; that he, Boon, was opposed to the formation of a new 
county out of Warrick, Posey and Gibson, and so arranging the 
boundaries as to make his town site central. I was fond of 
Boon and did not like to hear him abused, but said nothing until 
after I had obtained employment in the clerk's office; then the 
first time that I saw Boon, I took the liberty of saying to him that 
perhaps he had it in his power, or if he wished he could have a 
new county formed out of the counties above named, and still 
have them large enough, and that by so doing he would make 
many friends. A few months after I happened to be present at 
a conversation held in the clerk's office, while our circuit court 
was in session, between Boon, McGary, Gen. Evans and Judge 
Daniel Grass, all leading men, in which the whole programme 
of a new county was fully discussed. Boon mentioned that 
such chipping of Warrick county would necessitate the re-loca- 
tion of the county seat and the probable point would be at or 
near Setteedown's village, where he, a Shawnee chief, had 
lived with his little band until 1811, and who, before he left to 
join his nation had killed some white people in French Island 
neighborhood. He was followed and killed by a party of citi- 
zens, among whom Boon figured conspicuously. 

The county seat was re-located and located as above mentioned 
or suggested ; and Boon's name is, and rightly should be, per- 



78 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

petuated. Boonville is still the county seat of Warrick county. 
The boundaries of Spencer county were so fixed as to insure the 
location of the county seat at Rockport, a good location. Van- 
derburgh county was formed so as to make McGary's town site 
fit in exactly. General Evans had now become part owner ; the 
county seat was located and the name of the proprietor was per 
petuated in the now famous city of Evansville. In 1818 my 
father moved from the Kentucky side, to the Indiana side, of the 
Ohio river, in Vanderburgh county, a short distance below the 
foot of "Three Mile " Island. In 1820 I married and became 
owner of a portion of his land, where I lived till 1846 (my family 
remaining until 1853) and where our ten children had their 
birth. It is hardly worth while for me to mention the names of 
the early settlers and business men, lawyers, doctors, etc. You 
have among you those who knew them all. 

In 1822 I was first elected to the Legislature from the counties 
of Vanderburgh and Warrick. Gen. Evans and Dr. Foster 
were opposing candidates ; three of us on the track and one to 
be elected. Your humble servant had a plurality of fourteen 
votes over Gen. Evans, who was better qualified to represent 
the district than Foster and myself put together. That year the 
Legislature held its session at Corydon, then the seat of govern- 
ment, and continued to so be (if my memory serves me right) 
until 1825. After that, Indianapolis became the permanent seat 
of government. 

"In 1822 the House organized by electing Gen. G. W. John- 
son, of Knox county, Speaker, and Wm. Sheets, Clerk, Boon, 
Lieutenant-Governor, was President of the Senate, and Farnham, 
Secretary. At that session Governor Wm. Hendricks was elected 
to the United States Senate, and Boon became the acting Gov- 
ernor. Among the members of the House of that session, were 
some young men of promise that afterwards became prominent. 



General Joseph Lane. 79 

To wit : Oliver H. Smith, Gen. Milton Stapp, Bullock and 
Pinckney Jones ; two of these became quite prominent. 1 sup- 
pose that it is safe to say that not a member (myself excepted) of 
either House of that session, is now living, or has been living 
within the last ten or fifteen years. On looking back, how sad 
one feels ! The only one left ! 

"As many of the older members of your society know, I served 
at intervals in one or the other House of our State Legislature, 
from 1822 to 1846, when I left vacant an unexpired term in 
the Senate, and volunteered, in that gallant old veteran, Capt. 
William Walker's company. From him I took my first lessons 
in company drill. 

"At Buena Vista, sword in hand, he fell, while nobly and gal- 
lantly battling for his country's honor. A truer and braver 
soldier fell not upon any battlefield, before or since. 

"The Speakers in the several Houses, in which I served after 
1822, were Isaac Howk, Harbin H. Moore and Dr. John W. 
Davis; and if I remember correctly, each of these gentlemen 
served more than one term as presiding officer. 

"I was twice elected to the Senate, once only beaten for the 
House ; that was by Wra. T. T. Jones, a gallant, talented gen- 
tleman. Brown Butler run me close ; I beat him by only six 
votes. After that Butler was my colleague in the House while I 
was in the Senate. As you are aware, I did my part in bringing 
about a compromise between the State and her creditors, or 
bondholders; the adjustment saved us the disgrace of threatened 
repudiation, to which I was very earnestly opposed. During 
my whole service in the Legislature I did all I could for the pro- 
motion of the interests and honor of our State and the district 
that I in part represented. 

I have not, as was my intention when I commenced writing, 
given the names of the early business men of Evansville, the 



80 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

mechanics, professional men and others that ought to have a 
place in history. I have endeavored to give the little 1 knew of 
the influence of the men who shaped and formed boundaries of 
counties and location of county scats, all of winch was under- 
stood, by the actors, a year or two before the great work was 
accomplished, all of them more or less interested, and still all 
they did resulted in great public good. Ratliff Boon, Daniel- 
Grass (the humorist) and Gen. Robert M. Evans, were more 
than ordinary men of their day and deserve a place in the his 
tory of Indiana. 

"With kind regards and best wishes for the health and success 
of all the Society, lam, sir, with much respect, your obdienl 
servant, Joseph Lane. 

The writing of this letter to the Vanderburgh Historical Soci 
ety was one of the last ants of General Lane's life. He died at 
Rosenberg, Oregon, on April 20th, r88i, in his seventy-ninth 
year. 



EZEKIEL PERIGO. 

Ezekiel Perigo, one of the early settlers and a prominent citi- 
zen of Warrick county, was born in Ohio county, Kentucky, 
August 6th, 1802. His father, Romey Perigo, was a native of 
Maryland, and was born in that State during the strife with 
Great Britain. At eighteen years of age he settled in Ohio 
county, Kentucky, and in t8oo, when twenty one years old, he 
was married to Miss Rhodia Hinman. He died about 1830. 
Mrs. Perigo was a woman of extraordinary bravery. She could 
handle a gun or shoot a wildcat as well as a man. She died by 
a stroke of palsy in 1822. In April, 1819, Mr. Perigo moved 
to Warrick county and settled south of where Ezekiel now lives. 
This was one year after Boonville had been laid out and there 



Ezekiel Perigo. 81 

were not more than a half dozen houses in the place, and these 
were rudely built log cabins. 

Ezekiel's early advantages in instruction were limited to a few 
days each winter for two or three years while in Kentucky, and 
after his father's removal to Warrick county he attended a school 
two weeks, taught by George Hathaway. This comprised all 
his schooling. However, he obtained most of his education 
after his marriage by pursuing a regular and systematic course 
of study in the chimney corner at night by the light of a ''shell 
bark hickory " fire. 

In 1822 he was married to Miss Peggy Hudson, a life long 
member of the Methodist church, who died June 27, 1878, at 
the age of seventy-three. They had one son, Romey, who was 
killed in the battle at Atlanta, Ga., during the late war. 

Until fifty-four years of age Mr. Perigo pursued farming. He 
engaged in milling for about eighteen months, and then pur- 
chased a saddle and harness shop. He began mercantile busi- 
ness in Boonville in 1856 and continued until 1872. 

He finally retired from active business life and now lives on 
his farm south of Boonville, where he will spend the remainder 
of his days. 

During the late war he was a decided Union man and did 
much to aid the cause by helping to feed and clothe soldiers' 
families, and otherwise encouraging the work of fighting our 
battles. Politically, he was a Whig, having cast his first vote 
for John Quincy Adams for President, but when the Whig party 
was succeeded by the Republican he joined the latter. He has 
been a man of prominence in local politics and has held various 
offices. He was twice elected constable of Boon township. He 
has also been treasurer of Boon township four years and trustee 
four years. He was commissioner of the county seminary for 
six years and was also appointed commissioner of swamp lands, 



82 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

but there were no duties attached to the latter office. In 1838 
he was appointed county collector of taxes and was required to 
ride over the county and make personal collections. In this he 
was far more successful than his predecessors. He counted out 
the silver once after the year's work was done and threw 
it into one of Jackson's old-fashioned tin cups, which held about 
three pints, completely filling it. This was two years' salary and 
consisted of about $200. He has been administrator of forty-five 
estates and commissioner in petition of forty others. 

He has been a member of the M. E. church for a number of 
years, and is esteemed by all as an honorable and upright man. 
His admirable character appears to better advantage at his own 
fireside, and none know him but to like him for his sincerity and 
honesty. His career has been a very useful one, and, although 
very old, he still retains a wonderful vigor of mind. He has 
watched the progress of Boonville from the time it was a settle- 
ment of a half-dozen log cabins to a thriving town of two thou- 
sand population. To use the words of the venerable old gentle- 
man himself, ' 'his highest ambition is to so live that when this life's 
toils are over it may be truthfully said, he was always honest and 
honorable." 



DR. REUBEN C. MATTHEWSON. 
Of the prominent men of Warrick county that have passed 
away none covered a longer period of usefulness than Dr. Reu- 
ben Clark Matthewson, one of the pioneer physicians of Indiana 
and a gentleman of rare attainments, who settled in this county 
at a very early day. He was born October 16, 1804, in Steuben 
county, New York. His parents, Oliver and Agnes Matthew- 
son, lived to be very old. His father died very suddenly of 
apoplexy at the age of eighty-two, and his mother of heart dis- 



Dr. Reuben C. Matthew son. 83 

ease at seventy-five years of age. His mother, whose maiden 
name was Clark, was a descendant of a highly intellectual family 
and was a lady of extraordinary intellect. It is thought that the 
subject of this sketch inherited from her much of the talent and 
ability which he displayed throughout his career from boyhood 
to old age. In 1817 the family moved from New York to Prince- 
ton, Gibson county, Indiana, where the parents ever afterwards 
lived and are now buried. Reuben was thirteen years old at 
this time and had attended school very little, but when quite 
young he evinced a love, if not a passion, for books and music, 
which he maintained till old age, although averse to the wishes 
of his father, who wanted him to be a carpenter, the trade which 
he himself followed. At about this time the son was sent to 
school to Dr. Ira Bostwick, a gentleman of scholastic attainments 
and polished manners Between the two there became a warm 
attachment, which continued until the death of Dr. Bostwick, 
many years after the manhood of his pupil. At a later period 
in life he received tuition in Princeton from William Chittenden, 
a gentleman of literary attainments, and doubtless it was here 
that he obtained most of his education. At this time he was 
twenty years old, quiet and reserved, evincing a marked passion 
for books, and reading much in solitude. 

He expressed to his father a desire to read medicine, but Mr. 
Matthewson tried to discourage him, telling him that he did not 
possess the capacity or scholarship to engage in such high notions. 
However, he was permitted to enter the office of Dr. Charles 
Fullerton, a practicing physician in Princeton of more than or- 
dinary ability for that time and place. Dr. Fullerton was also a 
fine musician and a teacher of both vocal and instrumental 
music. Here the student of medicine spent some of his leisure 
time in learning melodies and harmonies which were of great use 
to him early in life. He also studied the languages, particularly 



84 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Latin, French and German, and for several years he was a reg- 
ular subscriber and reader of a German newspaper. 

He was licensed to practice medicine at the age of twenty-one 
and at once located in Boonville. This wasin 1825, seven years 
after Boonville was laid out. It was a village of about fifty 
inhabitants at that time, and Dr. Matthewson was the only phy- 
sician, Dr. Pasco, who came first, having died in 1824. 

He was married February 16, 1828, to Lorinda Baldwin, a 
young lady of good family and a native of New York. Her 
parents were among the earliest residents of Boonville. She died 
August 19th, i860, a little more than forty-eight years old, after 
a lingering illness, greatly lamented by all her numerous friends 
and relatives. Their children were five in number, three sons 
and two daughters. Two of the sons died in 1847, before they 
had arrived at manhood. The surviving son is Mr. Charles 
Clark Matthewson, who resides at the old homestead and is 
engaged in the drug business in Boonville. He inherits to a 
large extent his father's love of music and books, and lives 
quietly in theenjoyment of hisfavorite pastimes. Isabella Helen, 
the second child and eldest daughter, was marriedin April, 1850, 
to Dr. W. G. Ralston, and now resides at Evansville. Lucy 
Maria, the other daughter and youngest child, the favorite of 
her father, and a beautiful and highly accomplished young lady, 
was married to John Brackenridge in April, 1876, and died two 
months afterwards. 

In some business speculations about 1832 or 1833 Dr. 
Matthewson became much involved financially. Therefore, he 
relinquished his practice in Boonville and went to Bardstown, 
Kentucky, where he was made professor of music of the college 
at that place. He filled the chair with entire satisfaction for 
several years and then returned to his home and the practice of 



Dr. Reuben C. Matthewson. 85 

his profession, having made enough in the meantime to pay all 
his liabilities and start him anew. 

Dr. Matthewson was a hard student of medicine, as his books 
show by their marginal annotations. He was a very skillful, 
successful, and, consequently, popular physician. In his diag- 
nosis and prognosis of disease he excelled most practitioners ; 
hence, to his opinion was given great weight in critical and 
doubtful cases. He was not a graduate, having attended only a 
partial course of lectures in the Ohio Medical College, yet he 
knew more about the real and scientific principles and details of 
medical science than very many of the professors and teachers 
in the medical colleges of the day. He practiced his profession 
in Boonville with the exception of the time he was engaged in 
teaching music in Bardstown College, for nearly fifty years. 

He was a prudent and successful business man and was always 
regarded as honest and upright. 

He was for many years skeptical in religious matters, but later 
in life he often said that his former notions had undergone a 
change and that he now entertained the hope and belief that the 
soul was immortal and would live in the future. 

He was entertaining in conversation, having read almost every- 
thing that he considered worthy perusal. In physical appear- 
ance he was full and erect. His complexion was florid, and he 
had sparkling hazel eyes and red hair when young, which became 
almost white before his death. His weight was about 160 
pounds and his height five feet ten inches. 

In politics Dr. Matthewson was a Whig and afterwards a Repub- 
lican. He was never a candidate for political favor, but he 
held the office of postmaster of Boonville from 1841 to 1845. 

During his career of active life, covering a period of fifty years, 
he was identified as foremost in everything tending to the busi- 
ness or social advancement and improvement of his town and 



86 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

county. He was naturally looked upon as a leading citizen, and 
was held in the highest esteem by all. He. was of a sociable 
disposition and in a quiet way was very benevolent. 

During the last years of his life he was in a feeble state of 
health, which was doubtless a gradual softening of the brain, 
and on June 22, 1876, after a brief illness, supposed to be heart 
disease, the surroundings of his long, useful life, 

" Saw, in death, his eyelids close, 

Calmhy, as to a night's repose, 

Like flowers at set of sun." 



WILLIAM SCALES. 
William Scales, who was a pioneer of Indiana territory, and a 
man of conspicuousness in the early days of Warrick county, 
was born in North Carolina, in April, 1785. Early in the eight- 
eenth century a family named Scales was banished from Scot- 
land on account of their liberal ideas. They came to the United 
States, and it is probable that they settled in North Carolina. It 
is thought that William Scales was a descendant of this family. 
In 1803 he was married to Mary Skelton, of Georgia, and during 
the same year they emigrated to Warren county, Kentucky. In 
1 807 he came to Indiana and settled in what is now Gibson 
county, near Princeton. The white men in this part of the 
country at that time were " few and far between." Settlers 
twenty miles apart were as neighbors. He constructed a hut of 
a right-angle triangular shape, with poles, bark and skins, the 
manner in which the houses of most pioneers were at that time 
built, and lived in it with his family for sometime, before the 
more substantial log cabin could be built. A tribe of Indians 
lived in close proximity to where Mr Scales had decided to 
settle and shortly after his arrival they came trotting over to his 
hut in single file to see him. One of the Indians approached 



William Scales. 87 

him and said, "White man trust Indian, Indian trust white 
man," meaning that they would be his friend if he would trust 
them. They then asked that they might keep his eldest boy one 
day, promising to return with him when the sun went down. 
Afraid to refuse lest the savages should become offended he very 
reluctantly consented to the proposition after a consultation with 
his wife, and one of the Indians, taking the boy on his shoulders, 
they trotted away in the same direction they had come. For 
the father and mother alone in the wilderness, with no friend 
near, and wholly at the mercy of a band of savages, it was a day 
of painful anxiety. Now and then they shuddered with the fear 
that the Indians would prove treacherous, and that they would 
never again see their boy alive. Night was fast drawing near, 
and the sun was gradually sinking beneath the horizon. The 
father's hope began to grow weaker, and he impatiently awaited 
the end of the time allotted for their return. With fixed eyes he 
watched the sun disappear entirely in the west and he then 
turned in the direction the Indians had gone, ready to face any 
danger, but his face lighted up with a smile of sudden delight, 
and his heart beat fast with joy as he saw them in the distance 
coming with his boy. They came trotting up in the same man- 
ner they had left and deposited the son at the father's feet. The 
old Indian then patted the grateful parent on the shoulder, and 
said, "White man trust Indian; Indian white man's friend 
always." Forever afterward the Indians and William Scales 
were good friends. 

On account of the prevalence of wild animals at that time no 
stock could be raised, and hence, their meats consisted wholly of 
wild game, of which there was an abundance of all kinds. The 
manner of grinding or rather mashing corn for the purpose of 
making bread of it, was by hollowing out a stump in which it 
was mashed by a huge maul. Then the pioneers were intro- 



88 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

duced to the " spring-pole," which was regarded as a marvelous 
improvement on the maul mode of mashing corn, and afterwards 
came the more convenient horsemill, which was thought the 
limit of mechanical invention in grain grinding. 

In 1811 Mr. Scales enlisted as first sergeant in Captain Har- 
grave's company in the war of 181 2, and he participated in the 
battle at Tippecanoe. After the close of the war he removed to 
what is now the northeastern part of Warrick county, settling 
near Selvin. His occupation was principally that of a farmer, 
although he taught school a great deal of the time. He was 
accustomed to reading, and possessed what at that time and 
place was a very uncommon education. Consequently, his ser- 
vices during the greater part of his life were of a public or official 
nature. He was twice assessor of Warrick county. In 1843 he 
was elected sheriff of the county and held the office two years. 
He was elected county treasurer in 1847 and was holding this 
office at the time of his death. He raised a family of sixteen 
children, nine girls and seven boys, and has a large number of 
descendants still living in the county. 

He was a man of fine physique and a true type of the " old 
Scotch gentleman." He was of a sociable, mirthful disposition, 
and possessed a fund of thrilling and amusing anecdotes of per- 
sonal experience in his early settlement. He died in Boonville 
in 1848, at the place where Hon. B. S. Fuller now lives. 



A. M. PHELPS. 
The marriage of Cadwell Phelps and Margaret Hamilton was 
consummated February 19th, 1775. Of this union four child- 
ren were the issue, among whom was A. M. Phelps, the subject 
of the present sketch, who was born January 6th, 1798, in Hart- 
ford, Windsor county, Vermont, where his father, who was of 
English extraction, had settled some two years previous. 



HW' 




•■to,; «. 



;,- 




A. M. Phelps. 



A. M. Phelps. 89 

At that period the country was almost a wilderness, and the 
newness of the territory, in connection with the father's limited 
means, made the education of his children rather a slender affair. 
To make amends for this the lad, A. M. Phelps, when released 
by his father at the age of nineteen, worked two years at ten dol- 
lars per month, then entered the Royalton Academy, Vermont, 
and was a student there for about a year. 

But long before this the fame of the great west had reached 
the green hills of Vermont, and had so gained the attention of 
young Phelps that at the early age of fourteen, when his father 
one day pointed out to him an adjacent tract of land on the south 
side of the farm, and which was then for sale, following it with 
the remark : ' 'Abraham, we must go to work and try to make 
money enough to buy that farm for you to possess when you be- 
come of age." His reply was: "Father, when that day arrives 
I am bound for the West." 

On the ioth of June, 1820, with wardrobe packed and slung 
over his back, and only thirty-three dollars in his pocket, he 
hade adieu to his New England home, and set his face westward 
so intensified with the idea of his land of promise that four hun- 
dred miles of foot travel was to him no dissuasion. 

Cleveland, Ohio, was his objective point, and between it and 
his old home were many long and weary miles. His start was 
on Monday, and on the following Sunday he came to a church 
on the Mohawk river, New York, where a congregation was 
worshipping inside, and a large number of boys playing ball 
outside, which, to him, looked oddly enough, coming, as he did, 
from the land of steady habits. 

In a few days he reached the Genesee country, New York, 
and saw in process of construction what was in that day sarcasti- 
cally termed "Governor Clinton's Ditch," the same which is now 
enlarged and known as the Great Western Ship and Barge Canal. 



90 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Shortly after this he reached Lake Erie at a point four miles 
below Buffalo, and called Black Rock, where the steamer Walk- 
in-the-water, the first and only vessel of its kind then running on 
western waters, was to make its departure on the next day. 
Steam navigation at that time was so crude and imperfect as to 
be akin to failure; therefore, on the appointed morning those 
concerned thought that to make the vessel walk in the water, a tow 
line from the steamer with four yoke of oxen hitched to it would 
make the feat more certain, and, besides, there were Niagara 
Falls not so far off as could be wished under the circumstances, 
'whose current might give the boat a backward motion, notwith- 
standing its steam power. It would look as though the calcula- 
tion was well made, for when all was ready it was found that the 
combination of ox muscle and steam power made the boat 
:n Ivance at least two miles an hour. When the clanger of the 
current was passed and the oxen unhitched the boat had a speed 
of from four to five miles an hour, which enabled Mr. Phelps, 
who had taken passage in it, to reach Cleveland, distant two 
hundred miles, in fifty six hours. But steam power, as applied 
to navigation, was then in its infancy, and the novelty of calling 
oxen to the aid of steamers has long since become obsolete. 

An uncle and aunt who lived in the little town of Newburgh, 
situated some six miles back of Cleveland, induced a visit of two 
weeks. This town will not now be found on the map, for years 
ago the growth of Cleveland had absorbed Newburgh. 

Tins visit over, the young adventurer again set out with his 
face still westward, and his next stop was at Franklin, on the Big 
Miami, thirty-live miles north of Cincinnati, where he taught 
school in the same house two years and six months. 

He then hired as a hand on a flat boat bound for New Orleans, 
but before starting invested all his money in the purchase of flour 
and chickens. His funds enabled him to lay in forty barrels of 



A. M. Phelps. 91 

flour and thirty dozen chickens. This was in April 1823. The 
Miami was the river of mill-dams, and the boat had to run 
over twenty-four of these before the Ohio could be reached, con- 
sequently a rise in the river must be had before the boat could 

start. 

The voyage down the Ohio was a very pleasant one, and his 
opportunities for examining the towns and country along the banks 
were quite good. 

Of the many places that came under his observation on this 
trip, Evansville attracted his attention most, and he selected it as 
the place of his permanent residence. 

While in Louisiana and Mississippi he had learned that the 
reeds used in weaving were so scarce as to command a very high 
price. This inspired his ingenuity, and on his return to Evans- 
ville, which was in June, he went into the manufacture of weav- 
er's reeds, the canebrakes of Kentucky being his chief field of 
supply, and so assiduously did he work at this that by the middle 
of November he had about one hundred of these articles ready for 

sale. 

The reeds necessitated the construction of a large skiff with a 
canvass covering to give shelter from the weather, and when 
completed, he, with a boy named Jones, whose mother's name 
was Abbot, made his second trip to the South, where his reeds 
were peddled out at from two to five dollars each, the pay 
being partly made in beef hides, deer skins and beeswax, which 
he sold in New Orleans. 

While making this second trip he became acquainted with a 
Philadelphia merchant at Vicksburg, who bargained with him to 
peddle goods for one year, Florence, Alabama, being designated 
as the place where the merchant would supply Mr. Phelps with 
the goods. To carry out this project his second return to Evans- 
ville was followed by a trip to Florence, where he prepared him- 



92 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

self for his new undertaking, in which he was engaged some- 
thing over a year. 

His next movement was to sell his peddling equipage, retaining, 
however, the horse on which he travelled to Memphis. There 
he disposed of the horse, and took steamboat passage for Natchez. 
In this city he came in contact with a Mr. Wade, from Boston, 
with whom he contracted for a supply of goods, which he agreed 
to peddle out in a floating trip down the river, a skiff being used 
for the conveyance. When a return was desired a steamer was 
employed to take the skiff to Memphis, when a new supply was 
laid in and a new trip commenced. Five trips were thus made 
in one season which realized him in the way of profit about one 
thousand dollars. This he invested in a stock of dry goods, 
boots and shoes, and returned to Evansville, in June, 1827. 

On July 17th, 1827, he was married to Miss Frances Johnson, 
with whom he had formed an acquaintance about a year pre- 
vious. 

The following October he put all his goods in a small flatboat, 
employed a yellow man named Dave, who formerly belonged to 
Hugh McGary, one of the founders of Evansville, and again 
started down the river on a peddling expedition. He reached 
New Orleans in January, 1828, where he purchased a fresh 
stock of goods, and from this may oe dated his permanent estab- 
lishment in business, for on his return to Evansville he com- 
menced mercantile trade, in a frame house which then stood on 
the present site of Marble Hall. 

His first clerk was James G. Jones, the Judge, and beloved of 
after times, who was then about fourteen years old, and who 
lived with him some two years, when Mr. Phelps sold out his 
stock of goods. While in business he took in pork and nearly 
all kinds of produce, which he shipped to New Orleans in flat 
boats, making two or three trips a year. 



A. M. Phelps. 93 

In 1830, after selling out his stock of goods, and finding him- 
self in possession of some two thousand dollars of United States 
paper, he resolved to visit his old home in Vermont, from which 
he had been absent ten years. 

On his return he stopped at New York, where all his money 
and some credit were invested in a fresh stock of goods, which 
he opened in Ncwburgh, Indiana, he having decided to make 
that town his future place of residence. This occurred about the 
1 st of October, 1830. 

Since then he has travelled in the stage coach and canal boat 
more than forty times for the purpose of laying in goods, New 
York and Philadelphia being the places where he bought his 
heaviest stocks. 

In those days the whistle of the locomotive had not echoed 
among the passes of the Alleghenies, and the travel worn west- 
ern merchant found himself on the Atlantic seaboard for the pur- 
pose of laying in goods at an expense and fatigue that would 
astonish business men of the present times. 

For many years after the removal of Mr. Phelps to Newburgh 
his competition was very slight, while his means and credit soon 
established for him a heavy business. Though the town was at 
that time only a hamlet and the country very thinly settled, yet 
customers from Pike, Dubois, and Spencer counties made New- 
burgh their commercial center, and built up for Mr. Phelps a 
large produce business. In addition to this, of the settlers who 
were then living on Congress land, many of them got him to 
purchase their lands for them, allowing him a reasonable inter- 
est, and he giving them time to make their payments, and some- 
times rendered them further assistance by taking their produce 
and shipping it to New Orleans. This bartering business required 
the employment of several Hatboats every year to take off the 
produce that came into his hands, and the county records show 



94 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

that about one tenth of the lands in Warrick county have passed 
through his hands. 

Of the many clerks who have been in his employ may be named 
his brother Cadwell Phelps, who, after two years of service start- 
ed a successful business in Boonville. There was also Neely 
Johnson, afterward Governor of California, Henry Williams, 
Albert Hazen, Union Bethell, Smith Hazen, Isaac Adams, 
John DeArmon, Tillman Bethell, D. B. Hazen and Robert 
Hall, the most of whom are living and doing well. 

In 1855, and indeed for some years previous, the coalfields of 
Southern Indiana were in process of development, and about this 
time the first coal shaft in the vicinity of Newburgh was sunk on 
Mr. Phelps' land. At a subsequent date in conveying this land 
to his children he reserved the coal privilege, though more 
recently he has entailed this upon his heirs. The magnitude of 
this business may be somewhat appreciated when it is stated 
that the royalty on the coal taken from these lands amounts to 
over two thousand dollars per annum. 

His religious career dates from 1834, and in 1837 he built the 
first church in the county. This house was located in Newburgh, 
and, after its completion and preparation for service, was donat- 
ed to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which body Mr. 
Phelps was a member. It was afterwards donated to Indiana 
Presbytery for school purposes, and there are those now living 
and holding prominent positions in the church who can remem- 
ber that their initiatory was taken at Newburgh, and within the 
walls of Delany Academy, this being the cognomen of the house 
after its donation to the Presbytery. 

Mr. Phelps may be regarded as Newburgh's pioneer merchant, 
and his removal from Evansvillewas with the view to supply a 
need, in making it more convenient for the farmers of Warrick 
and Spencer counties to ship their produce and lay in the neces- 



A. M. Phelps. 95 

sary supply of goods; and though the position was to him a 
lucrative one, and places him to-day among the wealthiest of his 
county, yet he has ever looked upon Evansville as the point for 
the great commercial emporium of Southern Indiana, and in 
consequence is to-day, as of yore, a warm advocate of railroad 
and other improvements that look to the enlargement of Evans- 
ville, and the growth of the surrounding country. 

In this sketch we have the farm-boy, the school-teacher, the 
fiatboatman, the peddler, .ind the merchant, and underlying all 
there is a tenacity of will, a fixedness of purpose, and a perse- 
verance in effort that finally achieves the desired success. 

The old gentleman is now in his eighty-fourth year, and though 
enfeebled by age, and so crippled in his lower limbs as to make 
locomotion slow and painful, yet his mental power remains unim- 
paired, thus proving, in part, that immortality to which all are 
hastening. 

He lives with his family, surrounded by his children and grand- 
children, a patriarch among his townsmen and friends, and, with- 
out any apprehension or regret, is daily looking for the call of 
the Great Master to another mode of existence. 



JUDGE JOFIN B. HANDY. 
A careful student, a successful lawyer, an able and just judge, 
is John Brackenridge Handy, Judge of the Second Judicial Dis- 
trict of Indiana. He was born at Washington, D. C. , on August 
27th, 1828, and is the eldest of a family of eight children, of 
Edward G. and Attilia A. Handy, of which he and his brother, 
James H. , the second child, are the only survivors. He is of 
Irish-Scotch descent, and is a nephew of John A. Brackenridge, 
one of the ablest pioneer lawyers of Southern Indiana. In 1841 
his father removed to Boonville ; resided on a farm in Hart 
township for a while, and finally settled three miles west of 



96 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Boonville. The monotony of farm life was not compatible 
with young John's nature, and, when about sixteen years 
old, he ran away from home, and sought more congenial 
employment. He hired to an old lady living on First street, 
in Evansville, to sell pies, cakes, pecans, oranges, fruits, etc., 
to the travellers on passing steamboats, and continued 1 in that 
delectable business until he became even more disgusted with it 
than farm life, when he returned home. To imagine the now 
grave judge once a "peanut boy," gives one an irristable sense 
of the ludicrous. He afterwards accepted a position as clerk in 
the store of his uncle, Thomas J. Brackenridge, at Carrsville, 
Livingston county, Ky. , which he held some time. As such 
things as schools were "few and far between" in that day, his 
education was chiefly obtained by his own efforts. However, 
he attended Delany Academy, at Newburgh, a short time, which 
was then regarded as one of the principal educational institutions 
in this section. He early manifested a great love of study, and 
determined to become a lawyer. Accordingly he read law some 
under his uncle, John A. Brackenridge, and in the fall of 
1852 he entered the law school at Louisville, Ky. During the 
spring and summer of 1853 he attended a law school at Lebanon, 
Tenn., and in the following fall was admitted to the bar of War- 
rick county. He moved to Newburgh, and there commenced 
the practice of law. On the 28th of May, 1854, he was married 
to Amanda E. Muir, daughter of Dr. Muir, one of the earliest 
physicians of Boonville. The result of this marriage has been 
two children, both of whom are now living — Pinta, the eldest, is 
the wife of E. W. Bethell, cashier of the Boonville National 
Bank, and a son, Charles M. Handy. He resided at Newburgh 
until 1862, when, in consequence of the war breaking out, 
causing a general stagnation of business, he removed to the old 
homestead, three miles west of Boonville. In partnership 
with George W. Brackenridge, he commenced the practice 




C. L. Oatley. 



Judge John B. Handy. 97 

of law in Boonville in 1862, but this partnership only lasted 
about one year, when it was dissolved, and the former removed 
to San Antonio, Texas, where he has amassed considerable 
wealth, and he is now President of the First National Bank of 
that city. In October, 1872, Mr. Handy was nominated by the 
Democratic party and elected Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas for the district comprising the counties of Warrick, Van- 
derburgh, Gibson and Posey. In 1876 he was nominated by 
the Democratic party and elected Judge of the Second Judicial 
District, which is composed of Warrick, Spencer, Perry and 
Crawford counties. His present term will expire in October, 
1882. 

Judge Handy is passionately fond of books, and spends what 
time he is free from judicial duties in his library reading. His 
library is one of the largest and best selected in this part of the 
State. He is a hard student of both law and general litera- 
ture. 



C. L. OATLEY. 
In the life of Christopher Lenhart Oatley, the subject of this 
brief sketch, we find a man devoted to his business, a useful cit- 
izen, and one highly esteemed. He was born at Zanesville, Mus- 
kingum county, Ohio, November 14th, 1835. and is of German 
decent. His father, James Oatley, was a farmer in ordinary 
circumstances. It is noticable that of the prominent men of 
public life and leading men of business at least fifty per cent 
were farmer's boys and spent their boyhood days on a farm. The 
boyhood of C. L. Oatley was much the same as most other farm- 
ers' boys. Above all else he was industrious. His opportuni- 
ties for obtaining an education were poor, but he availed himself 
of the advantages of the "district school," and there obtained all 



98 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

his schooling. When seventeen years of age he apprenticed 
himself at Zanesville, Ohio, to learn the miller's trade, where he 
remained five years in that capacity. 

November 22, 1855, he was married to Belle C. Huston, the 
youngest daughter of J. C. and Patience Huston, of Zanesville. 
The fruits of this marriage has been three children, but the only 
one now living is the youngest, Miss May Oatley, a young lady 
of rare accomplishmens. 

Mr. Oatley started out in the world as a poor boy wholly 
dependent upon himself. After his marriage he moved from 
Zanesville, Ohio, to Sterling, Whiteside county, Illinois, where 
he lived three years employed as manager of the flouring mills at 
that place. In August, 1859, ne moved to Boonville, obtaining 
employment in the flouring mill of Dial, Seigel & Co., where he 
worked three years. In 1863 he removed to Taylors ville, War- 
rick county, and entered into a partnership in the milling busi- 
ness with Flavius P. Day. As Oatley possessed no capital at the 
time this partnership was one of experience vs. capital, and con- 
tinued until 1868, when Mr. Oatley sold his interest and removed 
to Edwards county, Illinois. He purchased a mill at this place 
and engaged in business, but on account of ill-health disposed of 
his property and returned to Boonville a year afterward. Here 
he bought a one-half interest in the Elk Horn flouring mill, and 
finally became sole proprietor, but admitted Thos. J. Downs to 
a partnership in 1875. ^ n J U ^Y» 1881, Mr. Downs was succeed- 
ed by W. J. Hargrave. Mr. Oatley is a lover of his business and 
is peculiarly adapted to it. He has improved the Elk Horn mill 
until it is now one of the foremost flouring establishments in the 
country, and their grade of flour is in demand wherever known. 
Milling, as carried on by Mr. Oatley, is more of a science than 
trade, requiring nice adjustments and complicated processes to 



C. L. Oatiey, 99 

produce a fine quality of our staple article of food. Although 
his establishment already seems perfect, he is continually adding 
new improvements of unsurpassed utility and perfection of design. 
The Elk Horn mills have a capacity of one hundred and twenty- 
five barrels of flour per day, and frequently the press of business 
becomes so great that they nre forced to run day and night. 
This establishment is one of Warrick's most, if not the most, im- 
portant business enterprises and it has been brought up to this 
standing principally through the efforts of Mr. Oatiey. 

Although he has been solicited by his party at different times 
to become a candidate for office, Mi. Oatiey has never sought 
political favor, and, in fact, he has rather shunned it, his busi- 
ness being sufficient to content him. However, in his political 
belief he is what is termed a " radical Republican." 

He possesses what would be regarded as a strongly marked 
and admirable character. He is very independent, and, withal, 
liberal in his ideas, and is one of the last men in the world to be 
victimized by an illusion. He is open to conviction, but not to 
persuasion. He is endowed with remarkable firmness and self- 
reliance ; his will is indomitable and his word can always be relied 
on. Once a friend, he is a friend forever — in adversity as in 
prosperity. His benevolence is a marked trait, and in a quiet 
way he is very charitable. The better acquainted one becomes 
with Mr. Oatiey, the more the noble qualities of the man are 
admired, and in this brief sketch the writer feels his inability to 
pay him a proper or just tribute. Aside from his sterling per- 
sonal qualities he is a progressive citizen and an enterprising 
business ma|n. f£ t 



100 Warrick and its Prominent People. 



JACOB SETTZ. 
Jacob Seitz was born January ioth, 1841, three miles east of 
Boonville. His father. George Seitz, was born at Weisenheim, 
Bavaria, April 5th, 1815, and emigrated to America in 1837. 
In 1838 he came to Warrick county, and settled in what was 
afterwards known as the "German Settlement" three miles east 
of Boonville. He was one of the first Germans to settle in 
Boonville. His father being in feeble health, and most of the 
time unable to work, the responsibility of the farm rested almost 
wholly upon our subject, and he was compelled to do the work 
of a man when only a small boy. The story of the hardships 
which he endured, as told by his venerable parents, is one of 
pathos. He learned the alphabet and reading by attending 
Sunday-school, and after his day's work, until late at night, he 
would read chapter after chapter in the Bible, which was his 
only book. He was sent to a writing school, held at night 
where he learned to write, and he afterward attended one or 
two terms of a sixty day school during the winter, but in all he 
never received more than nine months schooling. The rest of- 
his education he obtained without assistance, and by hard study. 
In October, 1858, he was married to Caroline Lacer, who died 
in 1875. I" J ^59 ne removed to Boonville, and obtained em- 
ployment in the flouring mill, of which his father was part 
proprietor, as engineer, without any previous knowledge of 
machinery, at a salary of $15 per month, and when he quit work 
he was receiving $35 per month: He afterwards leased his 
father's interest in the flouring mill, but remained in that busi" 
ness only one year. After engaging in several other pursuits, he 




Jacob Seitz. 




William Swint. 



Jacob Seitz. 101 

was given employment in the tobacco establishment of Kerr, 
Clark & Co., as buyer and receiver, but retained it only a few 
months. He afterwards formed a partnership with George 
Cromeans, and, with $800 capital, they shipped tobacco on a 
small scale. They were quite successful, but after remaining in 
partnership three years dissolved. Mr. Seitz has since contin- 
ued in the business, but he now conducts it upon a much larger 
basis, buying grain as well as tobacco. In 1879 he paid out 
over $80,000 for tobacco and grain, and during 1880 purchased 
over 600,000 pounds of tobacco. He is one of the most 
extensive dealers in tobacco in Southern Indiana, and his estab- 
lishment gives steady employment to several men and boys. 

December 25th 1877, Mr. Seitz was married to Mary A. 
Grimm, of Huntingdon, Penn., a lady of rare scholastic attain- 
ments. Mr. Seitz is a man of fine physique and pleasing man- 
ners. In 1876, and also in 1880, he was nominated by the 
Republican party for Sheriff of Warrick county, and although 
defeated, he largely reduced the Democratic majority each time. 

No man is better known in Warrick county than Jacob Seitz, 
and no man is more generally liked by the people. 



WILLIAM SWINT. 
William Swint, editor and publisher of the Boonville Enquirer, 
was born at Jasper, Dubois county, Indiana, April 16th 1844. 
He is the fourth child and first son of a family of seven, four of 
whom still survive. His parents were natives of Germany and 
France, and were adherents of Catholicism. His father, Con- 
rad Swint, (Schwint) was born at Heidelburg, Germany, May 1, 
1808, and was a graduate of the Heidelberg university. In 1830 
he was married to Miss Adaline Lechner, and in the same year 
they emigrated to America. He died in April, 1859, at Troy, 



102 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Perry county, Indiana. William Swint's mother was born in 
January, 1812, and died at Troy in January, 1869, where she 
lies buried beside her husband. She was the daughter ot Franz 
Lechner, a soldier under Napoleon for twenty-four years, who 
died in this State at the age of eighty-nine. William Swint 
attended the common schools until twelve years of age, when he 
apprenticed himself in the Rockport Democrat office, where he 
remained until the breaking out of the civil war. He enlisted 
in 1861 in the Twenty-Fifth Indiana Regiment, serving as a pri- 
vate and non-commissioned officer in the capacity of Sergeant- 
Major, until mustered out of the service in 1864, being engaged 
in all the campaigns and battles participated in by the regiment. 
After his return home he was for a time employed in the clerk's 
office of Spencer county, where he again took up his old position 
in the printing office until 1868, when he removed to Louisville, 
Kentucky, where he was employed on the Louisville Journal 
until 1870. At that time he removed to Boonville, Indiana, 
purchasing the Boonville Enquirer, which he has continued the 
management of, making it a vigorous and influential journal in 
the county and district, and engaging actively in politics. He- 
has never aspired to any office, but has held a number of minoi 
offices through appointment. He was married by Rev. S. Rav- 
enscroft, in the spring of 1868, to Katie A. Dreher, youngest of 
four daughters of Ezra and Catherine Dreher. She was born 
.it Madison, Indiana, November 26th, 1849, and died of pneu- 
monia February nth, 1879, after an illness of one week, leav- 
ing three children, two girls and one boy. Her death was a sad 
stroke to her husband, and his grief has wrought a grave change 
in him. 

Mr. Swint has been a decided factor in the current political 

literature, and has been recognized of decided importance to the 
Democratic part)-, of which he is one of the most prominent 
leaders in the First district. — From Eminent Men 0/ Indiana. 




Mrs. Katie A. Swint. 



Katie A. Swint. 103 



KATIE A. SWINT. 

Katie A. Swint, nee Dreher, spouse of William Swint, was 
born in Madison, Ind., Nov. 26, 1849, and was the youngest of 
four daughters of Ezra and Catherine Dreher. She removed 
with her parents to Rockport, Ind., at an early age, where she 
was married to William Swint, in 1868. The result of this 
union was three children — two girls and one boy. She died at 
her home in Boonville, on Tuesday, February 11, 1879, of 
pneumonia, after an illness of only one week, aged 29 years. 

The following tribute to her memory by one who knew her 
from childhood, tells the story of her life in language far more 
beautiful than any within our command: 

* * * "How rare, how beautiful, in all the virtues 
that adorn the character of wife, mother, daughter, sister — -only 
those may truly know who shared the sacred intimacies of her 
home life. How ardent and sincere it was in its friendships, 
how cheerful and sunny in its e very-day influences, how informal 
and illuminated with the spirit of self-sacrifice — many, many 
sorrowing hearts can attest! Her affectionate loyalty to her 
friends was one of the most distinguishing traits of her character, 
and her conceptions of duty in this particular were ample and 
generous. No demand which the sorrow or sufferings of her 
friends could make upon her time or patience ever went unan- 
swered. No night was too dark to keep her from the bedside 
of sickness or death; and she carried everywhere the sunlight of 
cheerfulness and hope. Looking always to the better side of 
human nature, she refused to think evil of her neighbors, and 
turned a deaf ear to the tongue of the slanderer. These were 
the qualities of mind and heart that endeared her to all with 



104 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

whom she came in contact. It is literally true that none knew 
her but to love her. 

"But it was in the atmosphere of her own home that was devel- 
oped the perfect flower and consumation of her womanhood. 
Her devotion to her husband, in its tenderness, constancy, 
purity and trust, will never be excelled while the instinct of 
love abides in the human heart. He repaid it with all the 
affection of which a generous nature was capable. The attach 
ment between them, indeed, was peculiarly interwoven with the 
whole history of their lives, for it began when they were boy 
and girl. Long before marriage was possible, or even contem- 
plated, they loved one another. They loved as boy and girl, as 
youth and maiden, as man and woman; and their love grew 
and strengthened and brightened from first to last. It is the 
happy satisfaction of the writer that he knew of this attachment 
between them in their youth, and favored and encouraged it, 
when it was somewhat in his power to do so, because he had 
faith in them. 

' 'That Katie was a most fond and devoted mother need not be 
said. Her love for her children was all pervading and intense. 
It is one of the saddest features of this untimely death that the 
three orphaned ones are too young even to realize the depth of 
their mothers love. But they must be taught to remember that 
only a few moments before she died — in the midst of a death- 
bed scene of wonderful beauty and serenity — their mother 
prayed that it might be a part of her occupation in heaven to 
guard the earthly footsteps of her children. 

"Her affection for her aged father and mother was touching in 
its freshness and constancy. They were ever in her foremost 
thought, and she always spoke of them with reverential fond- 
ness. Among her last words were, "A kiss for Pa, Ma." 



Katie A Swint. 105 

"She is gone. Some of us who linger behind, bound to her by 
a thousand ties of love and gratitude, stand appalled before a 
calamity like this — home destroyed, children bereft, a life -plan 
thwarted on the very threshold of success. Pondering — vainly, 
perhaps — the problems of life and destiny; groping — blindly it 
may be — for the life of a higher faith, we cannot understand 
why it is that one so young, so good, so necessary to the happi- 
ness of others should be thus suddenly taken away. But to her 
was given that higher faith. In her conception of the moral 
government of the world, even this stroke of desolation had its 
appointed place in the scheme of that all-pervading problem, 
"That paints the hue upon an insect's wing, 
And sets his throne upon the rolling worlds." 

"In that faith she died — died breathing a prayer for her dear 
children, and responding with the last effort of earthly con- 
sciousness to the kiss of the broken-hearted husband." 



BENONI S. FULLER, 

Benoni Stinson Fuller was born in Warrick county, Novem- 
ber 13, 1825. His father, Isham Fuller, was a mechanic and 
well-to-do farmer, who was born in North Carolina, and came to 
Indiana as early as 181 6. He was a great lover of biblical and 
historical literature, and was remarkably well informed on these 
and kindred subjects. In 1842 he was elected Representative 
from Warrick county in the State Legislature, and held the office 
six consecutive years. He was born in 1798, and died Febru- 
ary 14, 1856. Mr. Fuller's mother was also a native of North 
Carolina, and was a very pious lady. 

From a sketch of Mr. Fuller's life in the " Eminent Men of 
Indiana," we quote the following: "Mr. Fuller, as a son of 
pioneer parents, had few advantages for securing an education, 



106 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

but he had energy and industry, and soon mastered the rudi- 
ments. A few short months in the log cabin college each win- 
ter were the sum total of his early advantages, but he did much 
reading outside. Before he was twenty-one we find him in the 
school-room as a teacher, which, of itself, speaks for the way in 
which he spent his time. When a boy he did anything for a liv- 
ing, cut wood, mauled rails, burned brush, cleared land, and 
did all other work incident to farm life. His father gave him his 
time before he became of age, and he used it apparently to good 
advantage. He worked at home or abroad, by day or month, 
and was careful to husband his means and prepare himself for 
the future. His public life began when he was about thirty 
years old. At this time he was elected Sheriff of the county and 
served two terms, from 1857 to 1861. In 1862, during the 
beginning of the troubles with the South, he was sent to the State 
Senate. After this he was twice elected to the Lower House, 
once in 1866 and again in 1868. The last time he served he was 
unanimously nominated President by the Democratic caucus of 
its members. In 1872 he was again elected State Senator. In 
1874 he was chosen Congressman over Heilman, and again 
elected to the same position in 1876. In 1878 he declined 
renomination." 

Mr. Fuller is the only man from Warrick county, besides 
Ratliff Boon, who has had the honor of representing the first con- 
gressional district in Congress, and his election over Heilman in 
1874 was a glorious victory. Politically, his success has been 
something remarkable, but he says that he has now retired from 
public life, never to enter it again. 



Dr. IV. L. Barker. 107 



DR. W. L. BARKER. 

For its growth and prosperity Boonville owes as much to Dr. 
William L. Barker as to any one man. For the last thirty-five 
years he has been prominently identified in every movement or 
enterprise tending to the advancement of the interests of the 
town, and his life is interlinked with the later unwritten history 
of its progress. 

He was born in Charleston, S. C. , October 7, 1818. His 
father moved to Vanderburgh county, Indiana, in 1832, anden- 
gaged in farming, but he was more generally known on account 
of his public services. He was Commissioner of Vanderburgh 
county for several years. His death occurred in 1837, when he 
was about sixty-one years old. The family has a war record as 
far back as it is possible to trace. Both grandparents of the 
Doctor were soldiers in the Revolutionary war and his father was 
in the war of 181 2. Dr. Barker himself was surgeon of the 120th 
Indiana Volunteers in the late civil war, being mustered into the 
service in Indianapolis. At Atlanta, Ga., his horse fell, caus- 
ing a rupture, on account of which he was compelled to resign. 
He returned home and was confined to his bed about four 
months. The patriotic and benevolent spirit which he mani- 
fested during the late war is praiseworthy, and is gratefully 
remembered by many yet living. No soldier's family or poor 
person suffered for food, clothing or medical aid, when in his 
power to alleviate their wants. He has a charitable, sympathetic 
heart, and in an unobtrusive way gives with liberality to the 
poor. 

Doctor Barker came to Boonville in April, 1846, and com- 
menced the practice of medicine. He is the oldest physician 
living in the county. 



108 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

If the many enterprises depending upon the support of the 
citizens, which have aided materially in the upbuilding and im- 
provement of Boonville, were traced to the source of their suc- 
cess, Doctor Barker would be found foremost among the more 
liberal supporters. He was the largest stockholder in the first 
newspaper ever published in Boonville. He was one of the first 
contributors and supporters of the Lake Erie, Evansville 
and Southwestern Railway, built in 1873. He was also instru- 
mental in the organization of the Boonville National Bank, 
and was one of the largest stockholders. He is a leading mem- 
ber of the secret fraternities and was a charter member in the 
organization of the lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, Free and Accepted Masons and Knights of Pythias at 
Boonville. 

In 1847 Dr. Barker was married to Mary Williams, of Penn- 
sylvania, and from this union had four children. Two are now 
dead. The only son, Wm. L. Barker, jr , is connected with the 
Boonville National Bank, and the only daughter, Katie, is the 
wife of John L. Taylor, Esq. 

The career of Dr. Barker has been one of prominence in local 
politics. He was first one of the very few Whigs in this section 
and afterwards a Republican. He is strong in his likes and dis- 
likes, and a prominent characteristic is the tenacious, uncompro- 
mising spirit with which he adheres to his principles. This sec- 
tion of country has always been largely Democratic, and until 
quite recently it was impossible for a Republican to overcome 
the majority. Doctor Barker always conducted a vigorous cam- 
paign and he possesses ability as an impromptu speaker. He 
"stumped" Southern Indiana several times and used every hon- 
orable means in propagating Republican principles. Although 
formidable as a politician, he was highly esteemed as a citizen 
and gentleman of extraordinary intelligence by his political adver- 



Dr. W. L. Barker. 109 

saries, and they speak of him in language highly complimentary. 
The growth of the Republican partv in Warrick county is 
doubtless as much due to the indefatigable efforts of this pioneer 
champion of the cause as to any other one man. He was sev- 
eral times pressed into candidacy for office by his party. In 
1864 he was a candidate for State Senator from the districtcom- 
prising the counties of Spencer, Perry and Warrick. Benoni S. 
Fuller was his opponent and were citizens of the same county. 
They canvassed the district in joint discussion. Dr. Barker was, 
of course, defeated, but he ran ahead of his ticket between two 
and three hundred votes, besides receiving a majority in War- 
rick county. 

In 1868 he was again the opponent of Benoni S. Fuller for 
Representative of Warrick county. He was also nominated by 
his party as a candidate for Representative against Nathan 
Pyeatte, the Democratic nominee. Although defeated Doctor 
Barker's majority in Boon township alone was near two hundred, 
while he beat Pyeatte twelve votes in his own township. 

Although something of a politician Doctor Barker has not been 
an ambitious office-seeker, but has devoted his energies chiefly 
to his profession, in which he has enjoyed a large, lucrative 
practice ever since he located here thirty-five years ago. He is 
a physician of extraordinary skill and ability, and stands high 
among the medical practitioners of the State. 



JUDGE J. W. B. MOORE 
Judge Moore was born near Waterloo, Seneca county, N. Y., 
on the 5th day of November, 1801. He was an only child, 
and early left an orphan, his father having been lost ai sea, 
leaving him and his mother in limited circumstances, but pos- 
sessed of a small farm near Waterloo. The son worked on the 
farm in the spring and summer, and attended such schools as 



110 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

the county afforded in the autumn and winter. He early 
obtained a thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of 
book-keeping, which was of great advantage to him later in life. 
When he was about eighteen years old he became very anxious 
to. read law with his uncle, Joel W. Bacon, then a distinguished 
lawyer of Western New York, but his mother had, from some 
cause or other, imbibed an unreasonable prejudice against the 
profession, and she determined that he should not in any event 
become a lawyer ; and, being a woman of more than ordinary 
firmness, she had her way. She afterwards induced him to 
apprentice himself, as was then the custom, to Dr. Wells, the 
leading physician and surgeon of that locality, with whom he 
remained some two years. His mother meantime marrying a 
second husband, and the profession of medicine being distaste- 
ful to him, he finally concluded to abandon it and come West. 
He had some difficulty in obtaining his mother's consent, who 
always had great influence over him, and for whom he always 
retained the greatest affection and reverence. This was, how- 
ever, at last obtained, and he started on horseback, with but a 
scant supply of money, and without any well defined notions 
where he should stop. His journey must have been inexpressi- 
bly tedious and lonesome. 

Shortly after he started he took the ague, with which he was 
afflicted at frequent intervals for some two years and more. 
The chill would come on frequently when he was in a wilder- 
ness, far from any habitation or human beings. At such times 
he would get down from his horse, unsaddle it and tie it to a 
limb, using the saddle for a pillow and the blanket for a cover- 
ing. When sufficiently recovered he would mount and pursue 
his journey. He traveled until he arrived at Indianaplis, which 
had been recently laid out, and designed for the capital of the 
State. Here he found an uncle, Seth. Bacon, who owned a 



Judge J. W. B. Moore. Ill 

saw-mill, and who gave him employment in it until something 
better should offer. His uncle was very kind to him, which the 
Judge afterwards had ample opportunity of repaying with inter- 
est. The uncle, in his old days, lost his property, and became 
broken in health and energy, with a large family on his hands 
to support. The Judge, hearing of his condition, visited him, 
and brought him from the central part of this State, and, after 
providing him with the necessary supplies, placed him on a 
good farm, where he remained until his death. Folsomville 
now stands on a part of the farm. 

After working awhile in the mill, as we have stated, he ob- 
tained a school, which he taught until he made the acquaintance 
of James Linton, of Charlestown, Clarke county, Indiana, where 
he afterwards moved. This gentleman was a merchant, and 
employed the Judge to sell goods and keep books. He went 
with Mr. Linton to Charlestown, where he remained several 
years. After remaining a while with Mr. Linton, he obtained 
employment of Mr. Austin, in the capacity of salesman and 
book-keeper. Soon after going to Charlestown he united him- 
self with the old school Presbyterian church, in which faith he 
had been reared. Finally, he went into business with Mr. 
Shockly, as a partner, receiving a part of the profits for his ser- 
vices as manager, salesman and book-keeper. 

On the third day of December, 1827, he and Orra M. Shelby 
were married. She was the eldest daughter of Isaac Shelby, 
who was then, and who had been for some years, clerk of the 
Clark Circuit Court. Soon after his marriage he moved his fam- 
ily to Rockport, Spencer county, bringing with him a small 
stock of goods, but no capital except unlimited credit at Louis- 
ville, which was then the emporium of this section. Having 
remained in business at Rockport about a year, he sold his 
stock of goods, and bought of John Williams the farm upon 



112 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

which Henry Beeler, Esq., now resides. He immediately moved 
to his farm, and was, in the course of years, elected Probate 
Judge of the county, which he held until elected clerk of the 
Warrick Circuit Court, receiving his certificate of qualifications, 
which was then required by law before he could be commis- 
sioned, from Judge Goodlet, father of N. M. Goodlet, Esq., of 
Evansville. In 1844 he was re-elected clerk and recorder for 
seven years, and it was universally conceded that he was the 
best clerk in Southern Indiana. In 1856 he was elected Judge 
of the Common Pleas District, composed of this and Vander- 
burgh counties, and served a term of four years. 

In 1 86 1 when President Lincoln issued his first proclamation 
for 75,000 men, it created intense excitement in this locality. 
The President was pronounced as a tyrant and usurper, and the 
call was characterized as unconstitutional, and an outrage upon 
the South. Judge Moore took the side of his country, procured 
posters to be struck and put up, calling meetings all over the 
county, at which he appeared, justified the action of the Presi- 
dent, and urged the young men to enlist, to maintain the integ- 
rity of the Union. In 1862 he, notwithstanding hisage, enlisted 
as a private in Capt. Pace's Company, 1st Ind. Cav., Governor 
Baker commanding, and went with his regiment to the South- 
west, and participated in the battle of Frederickstown. He 
remained with his regiment nearly two years, but a soldier's 
life proved too much for his constitution, and he was compelled 
to accept a discharge, much against his wishes. 

He was a man of great firmness of will and energy of purpose 
in what he conceived to be right. When he moved to the farm 
we have mentioned, it, like almost all others, was incumbered 
with deadened timber, which had to be removed before it could 
be cultivated with any success or profit. It was then the uni- 
versal custom to have whiskey at all log-rollings, barn-raisings, 



Judge J. W. B. Moore. 113 

etc. He determined not to have whiskey on his farm, and so 
expressed himself. His neighbors remonstrated, and assured 
him that he would not be able to get his logs rolled, barns 
raised, or harvesting done without it. He persisted in his deter- 
mination, and to the credit of the neighbors, be it said, not one 
refused to assist him. The good example he set was soon fol- 
lowed by all, and thus a pernicious, degrading custom was 
entirely abrogated. 

When he moved to this county he found no Presbyterian 
church, nor any Presbyterians ; but believing it to be his dutv 
to unite himself with some one of the numerous families of the 
church of God, he chose the Methodist Episcopal church, of 
which he remained a consistent and acceptable member from 
about 1830 until the time of his death. In those early days 
preachers were few, and church houses still fewer. His house 
was often used as a preaching place and has ever been a wel- 
come house to the itinerant: those moral heroes who worked out 
the way for the car of progress, and to whom we are so greatly 
indebted for our advanced positions, in respect to religion and 
intelligence. 

Thus lived and died an honest man, a sincere christian, a kind 
husband and an indulgent father, of whom it may be said that 
" his last days were his best days." 

He left as his widow the wife of his early years, two daugh- 
ters, Mrs. T. W. Hammond and Mrs. J. B. Ashley ; and two 
sons, Isaac S., and Robert D. O. Moore; several grandchild- 
ren, and a large circle of friends to mourn his loss. — From Boon- 
ville Enquirer. 



114 Warrick and its Prominent People. 



ROBERT PERIGO. 
There are very few persons in Warrick county who don't 
know Robert Perigo. He has been a resident of the county 
over fifty years, and is one of its most prominent citizens. He 
was born in Ohio county, Kentucky, September 6th, 1818, 
and his parents were Jonathan and Isabella Perigo. His father 
was a farmer in good circumstances. He removed to War- 
rick county when Robert was six months old settling near 
Boonville. The first school he ever attended was held in the 
old court-house at Boonville, three miles distant from where his 
father lived, which he was compelled to walk daily. The 
teacher of this school was Thomas Fitzgerald, a man of rare 
scholastic attainments for the time and place, who was after- 
wards Lieutenant-Governor of Michigan, and a prominent poli- 
tician. Mr. Perigo was an apt student, and received what was 
regarded as a very good common school education at that day. 
When twenty years old he was granted permission to leave home 
and work at whatever he wanted to. He obtained employment 
with General Joe Lane, who at that time was proprietor of a 
wood-yard, situated just below Three Mile Island, in Vander- 
burgh county. Mr. Perigo's duties consisted of attending to 
the books and general business of his employer, who was fre- 
quently absent from home. He was, of course, very intimately 
acquainted with the affairs of Lane, who at that time was a very 
popular and influential man, and he can relate many interesting 
reminiscences of the illustrious veteran. He remained in Lane's 
employ about three years, and he remembers him as the most 
genial and sociable person he ever met. 




• George L. Masters. 



Robert Perigo. 115 

September 12th, 1838, Mr. Perigo was married to Elizabeth 
Youngblood, a daughter of the Rev. John W. Youngblood. The 
results of this marriage were eleven children — nine girls and two 
boys — all of whom are still living, except two. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Perigo engaged in farming, where he now lives. He 
held the office of trustee of Boon township during the entire 
time the old congressional township division was in force. In 
1864 he was nominated by the Democratic party for representa- 
tive of Warrick county, and was elected by a majority of 156 
over James F. St. Clair, Esq., which was a notable victory at 
that time. He was an active member of the sessions of the 
Indiana Legislature in 1865-66. He was re-elected representa- 
tive in 1876, and was a member of the session of the Legislature 
of 1877. He has held various minor offices. As a parliamenta- 
rian he has few equals in Warrick county. He is a Democrat, 
and has never sustained a defeat but once for any office for 
which he was a candidate. His career has been a notable one 
in local politics. 



GEORGE L. MASTERS. 
Among those of the present day who, by their own efforts, 
have attained the position in our county of active and promi- 
nent business men none are more worthy of mention than George 
Lafayette Masters, whose career, in many respects, is interesting 
and remarkable. He was born on a farm in the " flats" of Cy- 
press creek, in Warrick county, on August 25th, 1845. His 
father, Joseph Masters, was a quiet, unassuming man, and a 
farmer by occupation. His mother's maiden name was Eliza- 
beth Hudspeth, and her parents were among the first settlers of 
Warrick county. 



116 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

The boyhood days of George Masters were spent on his 
father's farm, and, as a farmer's boy, he was accustomed to the 
hard work by which farm life is usually attended. Even in those 
days of limited educational advantages his opportunities for ob- 
taining an education were poorer than those of most boys, and 
when in the very prime of his boyhood, ;md when others of his 
age were in the school-room, he sacrificed his only chance for 
obtaining an education and responded to the call of his country 
for soldiers to put down the rebellion. 

On September 20th, 1861, when only sixteen years of age, he 
enlisted in the Forty-Second Indiana Regiment, Company K, 
which was commanded by his brother, Captain James H. Mas- 
ters. In the engagement with Bragg's army at Perryville, Ken- 
tucky, on the 8th of October, 1862, he was wounded through 
the abdomen, and was consequently confined to the hospital sev- 
eral weeks. While yet unable for duty he was placed in the head- 
quarters of the medical department at New Albany, Indiana, as 
chief clerk, which position he filled satisfactorily until he had 
recovered sufficiently to return to the ranks of his company. 

In August, 1863, he returned to duty in his regiment. In the 
battle of Rasacca, Georgia, on the 14th of May, 1864, he was 
wounded in the shoulder and also through the lower lobe of the 
right lung by a one and a quarter ounce ball, while making a 
charge on the enemy. When picked up by his comrades they 
supposed he was dead. For a long time he laid in the field 
hospital, and his death was regarded by his friends as inevitable. 
Finally he was taken to Nashville, and placed in the hospital at 
that place, where he remained for several weeks. As soon as 
able to travel he was furloughed, and returned home. He par- 
ticipated in the battles of Perryville, Ky., Lookout Mountain, 
Chicamauga and Mission Ridge, besides numerous little skir 
mishes. He held an appointment as postmaster of his regiment 



George L. Masters. 117 

at the time he was wounded, but he would never take advantage 
of it to shirk duty. In May, 1865, he was honorably dis- 
charged. 

In 1866, in partnership with his brother, Thomas N. Masters, 
he purchased the stock of clothing, boots, shoes, etc., owned by 
Nicholas C. Allen, ana, having no capital whatever, but a repu- 
tation for honesty and good credit, gave promissory notes to 
the amount of $1,800 for payment for the goods. July 4th 
Thomas Masters died, leaving George with the entire business 
to control, and a debt of $1,200 to pay off. To the inexperi- 
enced young business man, upon whose shoulders a burden was 
now resting to which most men would have succumbed, this 
was doubtless the gloomiest period of his life; but his cares he kept 
safely buttoned within his own vest, and even his most intimate 
friends never suspected the fears which ' ' hovered like a blight 
over his spirit," and caused him many sleepless nights Although 
without experience in business, and compelled to strive against 
established competitors, he succeded by shrewd management in 
making all payments on the promissory notes which he and his 
brother had given, and paid all outstanding debts. 

In the fall of 1866 Jasper Hargrave, then a resident of Evans- 
ville, visited Boonville, and calling on Mr. Masters, after pass- 
ing the customary remarks of the day, commenced negotiations 
for the purchase of an interest in his store. Within ten minutes 
afterwards the doors of the store were closed and the two were 
invoicing the stock. A partnership was summarily consummated, 
which continued until January, 1868, when their store was des- 
troyed by fire. The remnants of the stock were sold to Huds- 
peth Brothers, with whom Masters accepted a position as clerk, 
which he held about three months. He then opened a store on 
the east side of the public square in Boonville, which was 
known as the "Red Front," his stock consisting of boots and 



118 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

shoes only. Jasper Hargrave, his former partner, again ap- 
proached him one day, stating that he had purchased the build- 
ing adjoining the St. Charles hotel, and proposed a partnership 
in the clothing, boot and shoe business, to which Mr. Masters 
assented. In a short time the two were in their new quarters 
and again doing a prosperous trade. This partnership continued 
until about 1870, when Hargrave retired, and Masters shortly 
afterward sold the stock of goods to E. W. Bethell and Thomas 
J. Downs. During the following summer he engaged in farm- 
ing, but in the fall returned to town and bought Bethell's inter- 
est in the clothing store, when the firm became Downs & Mas- 
ters. This partnership continued until 187 1, when Downs 
retired and the business was for a short time conducted under 
the firm name of G. L. Masters & Co. In 1872 Colman Miller 
purchased an interest in the store and the firm became Masters, 
Miller & Co., which was dissolved in the latter part of 1874, G. 
L. Masters becoming the sole proprietor of the establishment. 

In 1867 he held the position of deputy treasurer of Warrick 
county under his brother, Capt. James H. Masters. 

April 25th, 1867, he was married to Irene A. Williams. The 
fruits of this marriage has been four children — two boys and two 
girls. 

In February, T878, he received the appointment as postmas- 
ter of Boonville without seeking the position or having thought 
of the matter. At the time he took charge of the office it was 
in a bad state, but under his management it has improved, until 
to-day no postoffice of like proportions stands higher at the 
Postoffice Department in Washington. The mail handled and 
revenue receipts have increased to an amount somewhat remark- 
able for an interior town, and the system with which the office 
works is highly satisfactory to our citizens generally. 



George L. Masters. 119 

Mr. Masters never took an active part in politics until the 
compaign of 1880, when he demonstrated considerable sagacity 
and influence as a party leader. Politically he is a Republican, 
and is recognized in his party ranks as an indispensable factor. 



REV J. W. YOUNG BLOOD. 
Rev. J. W. Youngblood was a South Carolinian by birth, having 
been born in the Abbeville District, in 1796, and is now in his 
seventy-seventh year. His parents were Samuel and Jane Young- 
blood. The father was an old Revolutionary soldier, and suf- 
fered much in that war, often being robbed and plundered by 
the Tories. There were ten children in the family — seven sons 
and three daughters — most of them living to be grown, our sub- 
ject being the eighth one of the family. The mother died when 
he was about twelve years old, and his father then broke up 
housekeeping, leaving his children without the kindly influences 
of a living mother. They had no education, for their father was 
poor and in a slave country, where the common class had little 
opportunity to better their condition. Understanding these dis- 
advantages, and hearing of the new territories opened up to 
emigration, the father concluded to bring our subject and his 
youngest brother to Tennessee to live among some acquaint- 
ances and some kinsfolk. They left South Carolina with only 
one horse for the three, came through the State of Georgia, 
where they stopped a short time to recruit, they then turned 
through the Cherokee country, and had an opportunity of seeing 
a great number of these Indians e /ery day. They were gener- 
ally friendly when they were not drinking, but when intoxi- 
cated could not be trusted. Rev. Youngblood calls up often to 
his friends many incidents that happened as the party passed 
through this nation. His father was quite a hunter, and had got 



120 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

a large bell to put on their horse, so that when camping out 
they would take a couple of hickory withes and plait them 
together and make what was called hopples, and fasten the bell 
upon the horse for the night. Game was plenty in the nation, 
and the father had brought his rifle with him, and would often 
give his sons the large bell to rattle along the road, while he 
would look for a deer through the brush. One day as they 
were rattling the bell along the road, the father stayed out hunt- 
ing for so long a time that the boys became uneasy lest some- 
thing had befallen him, and they concluded to turn back. 
Being alarmed, they continued to ring the bell, and commenced 
shouting at the top of their voices. The noise soon gathered a 
large crowd of Indians, and one of them spoke to the boys very 
roughly, and wanted to know what they meant by so much 
fuss. They were quieted, however, as soon as the lads were 
able to explain their situation. 

Their journey proceeded, and they entered the Stnte of Ten- 
nessee some time in August, 1811, where they remained about 
one year, and then came to Kentucky, staying there also about 

a year. 

At this time the subject of our sketch came to Indiana Ter- 
ritory, this part of the country at that time being very thinly 
settled, but the people were very friendly, and dependent much 
on each other, the rules of good neighbors being observed very 
generally. 

The face of the country resembled, however, a wilderness: 
the Indian moccasin tracks had hardly disappeared. The game, 
such as bear, deer, elk, wolves and panthers, were in great 
alnmdance, and their meat served largely to feed the people. 

About the fall of 1813, our subject came to this section, and 
was married September 21st, 181 5, to Ann Musgrave, the cere- 
mony being probably one of the earliest performed in our im- 
mediate vicinity. 



Rev. J. W. Youngblood. 121 

Eleven children were born to them, one daughter only dying 
in infancy, the rest growing up to be heads of families, and all 
but three are still living. 

It may be interesting to the reader to know how the people 
managed to live in this country at that early day. Of course 
they were comparatively poor and moneyless. They ^did not 
live so fast nor so extravagant as they do at the present time. 

There were no mills and every man made his own mill and 
ground his own meal, and baked his own bread, sometimes in 
the ashes, and sometimes on a board before the fire, and again 
in what we called a " dutch oven." And no complaints against 
fortune went up from their rude tents. 

For clothing, they exchanged their merchandise, transported 
by pack horses to the Cotton States, where they purchased the' 
cotton, brought it back with them, and the women would card, 
spin and weave it by hand. One of these home-made garments 
would outwear three of the factory work. 

The men in cold weather dressed in skins of deer and other 
animals, which they were first compelled to kill. 

Buckskin pants were considered elegant The first time our 
subject ever saw Governor Ratliff Boon he remembers that he 
was dressed in his buckskin hunting apparel. 

There was no church or school -house throughout the entire 
region. The people were rough, and the only way they heard 
the gospel in their smoky cabins was when some minister who 
was pioneering in the western wilds would come into their settle- 
ment and assemble a congregation. 

And God often wonderfully blessed the labors of those faithful 
men. They had much to contend with, for the new coun- 
try was sorely infested with horse thieves, counterfeiters and 
housebreakers. 

Many amusing incidents can be related by our subject in 
11 



122 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

regard to the rough pioneer life of these early days ; and no one 
can listen to him without feeling a profound reverence for this 
reverend gentleman himself, who, after a life of noble deeds, 
calmly awaits the call of his Master. 

No one is more eloquent and sanguine than he in regard to 
the progress of our country, the clearing of a wilderness and the 
cultivation of the soil; the building of churches; the establishing 
Sabbath-schools for the benefit of the young. The rise and pro- 
gress in the arts and sciences, even during the last half century ; 
from all the inconveniences of the early days, he has lived to see 
railroads, steamboats and the electric telegraph. 

The life of this worthy gentleman is so intimately connected 
with the hardships of a by-gone generation, that a description, 
as given, was necessary, in order that the reader could properly 
appreciate trials. After his father had settled his boys in Ten- 
nessee, he left them to their fate and returned to Carolina, where, 
while settling up his business, he died. Shortly after his marriage 
our subject joined the Methodist Episcopal church, and not very 
long afterwards the church gave him authority to preach ; and 
for some forty years he has labored zealously in the cause of 
Christ, doing much good throughout this section. He has often 
labored with his own hands for his support, and never coveted 
any man's silver and gold, or apparel — preaching the truth, as 
it is in Jesus. 

He is now the last one of the old ministers that is yet living. 
Almost all of the old settlers who were living when he began his 
ministerial labors have died or removed to distant lands ; but 
the reputation of Rev. J. W. Youngblood, for kindness to the 
poor, for generosity to his fellow-men, as well as his fervent piety 
and devotion to the cause of his Master, will never be forgotten. 
— prom Evansville and its Men of Mark. 




T. B. Hart. 



T. B. Hart. 123 



T. B. HART. 

Thompson B. Hart, the fifth of a family of ten children of 
William and Sallie Hart, was born April ist, 1836, five miles 
north of Boonville. His father, who was a soldier in the war 
of 1812, was a native of Mercer county, Kentucky, and he 
came to Warrick county with the grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch at a very early day. His mother was a native of 
South Carolina, and was a very pious and consistent lady. She 
was a member of the Christian church for a number of years. 
She took great care to instill in the mind of her children 
lessons of moral and social duty, and she endeavored to " raise 
them up " in the way she desired they should live. 

The education of the subject of this sketch was such as could 
be obtained in the common schools of Warrick county during 
his boyhood. He was compelled to walk two miles to school, 
and at that time it was the custom for pupils to recite their 
lessons in the order in which they arrived. The ''simple rule 
of three " was the limit of education. He attended the school 
at Boonville one year, and this comprised all his schooling. 
However, he has read much desultorily, and has thus obtained 
a general and practical knowledge not commonly met with in 
those who have had to contend with like disadvantages. 

When nineteen years of age he commenced the study of medi- 
cine ; but his father's last request, before dying, was that 
Thompson should take charge of the farm, and help support the 
widowed mother and younger children ; hence, after his father's 
death, he relinquished the study of medicine, and did as 
requested. Faithful to his trust, he remained on the home farm 
about nine years. Early in life he manifested a marked dispo- 



124 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

sition to trade in stock, and this he has made his principal busi- 
ness, although he manages a very extensive farm. 

January 15th, 1867, Mr. Hart was married to Susan K. 
Stone, a very intelligent lady, and daughter of Jehu Stone, Esq., 
one of the earliest and most extensive tobacco buyers of Warrick 
county. The fruits of this union has been seven children. 

Mr. Hart is a quiet, unassuming man, and is no political 
aspirant, as his business has been sufficient to require all his 
attention. However, he was solicited by his friends to be a 
candidate for State Senator in 1878, and he was the nominee of 
the Democratic party. He was elected, and has been a member 
of the State Senate during 1878-80-81. 

During his official career he has been a slave to the best inter- 
ests of his constituents, and an honor to the district which he 
represented. 



W. J. HARGRAVE. 

William Jasper Hargrave was born in Warrick county, two 
miles north of Boonville, on February 10th, 1833. He is a 
grandson of Rev. William Webb, one of the pioneer preachers, 
who came to Warrick county as early as 1816, and the nearest 
neighbor north of where he lived at that time was ten miles dis- 
tant. The educational advantages of Jasper, as he is familiarly 
called, were limited to the common schools of Warrick county 
at that time, and his boyhood was spent on the farm. He was 
married to Lou Ann Day, daughter of the venerable William 
Day, on June 8th, 1854. She died in January, 1877. The 
fruits of this union were six children, four of whom are now 
living. 

In 1858 Mr. Hargrave engaged in the hardware, grocery and 
furniture business in Boonville with his father-in-law and Grant 
T. Dunnigan. He was also a member of the dry goods firm of 




Thos. J. Downs. 



IV. /. Hargrave. 125 

Hudspeth, Adams & Co., (now Hudspeth, Curtis & Co.,) of 
Evansville, from January, 1866, until July, 1868, when he re- 
turned to Warrick county and engaged in business with G. L. 
Masters. He was also interested in the dry goods firm of I. W. 
Adams & Co. for some time. 

His public career, which has been a notable one in Warrick 
politics, began in 1859, when he was elected county clerk. On 
account of ill-health he refused to be a candidate for re-election. 
In 1872 he was the Republican candidate for county treasurer. 
Although the Democratic majority in the county at that time was 
about 350, he was elected by a majority of 75. He was re-el- 
ected by the overwhelming majority of 358. For several years 
he was the only Republican in Warrick county who could be 
elected to office. Since he retired from office in 1876 he has 
lived on his farm, but in July, 1881, he purchased the one-half 
interest of Thos. J. Downs in the Elk Horn flouring mill. Feb- 
ruary 3, 1878, he was married to Elvira E. Chapman. He is 
esteemed for his strict integrity, and has attained a popularity 
and reputation among his fellow-citizens which will live after 
him. 



THOS. J. DOWNS. 
In great and free America, where the power of wealth and 
glory of political and social distinction is open to all who have 
the talent and industry to attain them, the greatest pride of the 
people are self-made men — the fruits of a Republican form of 
government. Their rise from humble youth to the position of 
power and influence must stimulate the efforts of all who desire 
to better their condition. There are few whose histories better 
illustrate what can be accomplished by energy and integrity than 
the subject of this sketch. Thomas J. Downs is a true type of 
the self-made man. 



126 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

He was bron April 13, 1834, in Ohio county, Kentucky, 
where his grandfather, Thomas Downs, was an early settler. He 
was a minister in the Missionary Baptist church, and in his 
rounds had travelled over large portions of Indiana and Ken- 
tucky. He was generally considered a man of more than ordi- 
nary ability. He was one of two brothers of English descent, 
from which sprang all those bearing that name in this country. 
He died in 1850, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. His son 
William, the father of Thomas J., died two years previous. He 
was a farmer in comfortable circumstances, an honest, upright 
citizen, plain and simple in his manner, a man of few words, 
but tenacious of his opinions when he believed himself in the 
right. By the death of his father, which occurred when Thomas 
J. Downs, the immediate subject of this sketch, was but fourteen 
years of age, he was withdrawn from school, and cheerfully 
assumed, until he attained his majority, almost the sole respon- 
sibility of providing for the family. In 1855 he removed to 
Warrick county and worked at his trade as a carpenter. In 
1 86 1, at the breaking out of the war, he joined the 42nd Indiana 
Volunteer Infantry as a musician, but by general orders was 
mustered out of the service six months afterwards. 

In the fall of 1863 he enlisted a number of men for the 120th 
Indiana regiment (see history Company E, 120th regiment) and 
was unanimously elected captain. This body participated in 
the Atlantic campaign and in the hard-fought battles at Nashville 
and Franklin. They were then transferred to North Carolina, 
where, at the battle of Wise Fork he was wounded in the back 
of the head, and was mustered out of the service at Newbern in 
May, 1865. 

In the fall of 1865 he was elected auditor of Warrick county 
on the Republican ticket by a majority of twelve votes over 
Adolph Miehle, the Democratic candidate, the majority of the 



Thomas J. Downs. \Tl 

latter party having been from 150 to 200 prior to that time. At 
the expiration of his term of office he engaged in the mercantile 
business and farming for the next five years. In 1875 ne pur- 
chased a half interest in the Elk Horn flouring mill of Boonville 
and continued in that business until July, 1881, when he pur- 
chased a large farm two miles north of Boonville, and now lives 
in the quietude of farm life. 

He was married January 1, 1857, to Lydia M. Williams. 
They have six children, five boys and one girl. 

His mother, who was a King, is still living, and now in her 
old age retains all her mental faculties to a wonderful degree. 
She possesses a master mind and has lived a consistent christian 
life, leaving to others a worthy example for emulation. She is 
a member of many years standing in the Predestinarian Baptist 
church. 

From this brief outline of a busy life, furnished with commend- 
able modesty by Mr. Downs, a useful lesson may be drawn. 
Commencing the battle of life friendless and poor, at an age 
when most children are still in the nursery, he has lived to see him- 
self a power for good in the community where he dwells. Be- 
lieving at the outset that a good name is better than riches, with 
no ambition for public office, he has been governed since youth 
by those fixed principles of honor and rectitude which stamp 
him to-day as an honest man, an exemplary citizen and a kind 
husband. He is of a jovial, complaisant disposition, and to be 
liked needs only to be known. He is quick of thought and 
has a sound and original opinion upon every topic, and expresses 
himself in language that is marked by its simplicity and correct- 
ness. In a brief sketch of this kind the most that can be said of 
him is that he is pre-eminently one of the men of mark of 
Warrick county. 

As a Republican Mr. Downs has rendered his party valuable 



128 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

service, and during the political campaigns in the years 1872, 
1874 and 1878 was chairman of the Republican Central Com- 
mittee of Warrick county. — From Americati Biographical History 
of Eminent and Self-made Men of Indiana. 



HANSEL M. SCALES. 
As a self-made man and exemplary citizen, Hansel Ma- 
rion Scales, treasurer of Warrick county, deserves mention 
among the men of the present. He was born in Lane town- 
ship, Warrick county, November 30th, 1841. His father, John 
Scales, was a son of William Scales (see sketch), and was born 
in Gibson county, Indiana, in 1809. He was a farmer, and 
lived just within the county line (adjoining Warrick), in Lock- 
hart township. He was married to Louisa Bogan, whose 
parents were among the early settlers of the county, and they 
reared a large family of children — eleven in all. He was two or 
three times elected assessor of Lockhart township. He died in 
i860. While a boy, Hansel worked on his father's farm, and 
was not even given the full benefit of the very poor school 
advantages at that time. When seventeen years old he was 
given a position as clerk in the store of Abraham Chambers, at 
Lynnville. In i860 he taught school in Lane township, and 
after that engaged in farming. December 17, 1863, " ie was 
married to Lorenna Robinson, of this county. The result of 
this union has been four children. In 1867 he was elected jus- 
tice of the peace of Lane township, but shortly afterwards 
resigned. In 1870 he was elected assessor of Lane township 
on the Democratic ticket, and at the expiration of his term of 
office was re-elected. He was elected trustee of the same 
township in 1873, and held the office two terms. In 1880 he 
received the Democratic nomination for treasurer of Warrick 
county, and was elected. It is to his own efforts that Mr. 



Hansel M. Scales. 129 

Scales is indebted for his present good standing. He is a man 
that at once favorably impresses one by his plain, unaffected, 
honest manners, and sincere cordiality. He is well known 
throughout the county, especially in the interior part, and is 
highly esteemed. While he is not a politician, he has always 
been a staunch Democrat, and wields considerable influence in 
his party. 



S. L. TYNRR, M. D. 
Chance not only has much to do at times with furthering 
men's progress in life, but has frequently been the cause of their 
adopting those very callings in which they afterwards attain a 
high degree of excellence, and, in some cases, become famous. 
Sir Robert Wilson, a general of distinction, would, in all likeli- 
hood, have adopted the law as his profession had it not been for 
a chance introduction to the Duke of York, which changed what 
might have been an indifferent lawyer into an able general. 
Gen. U. S. Grant's entrance upon a military career is said to be 
due to a circumstance of chance when a boy by borrowing 
butter from a neighbor one morning. Dr. Tyner's adoption of 
the medical profession is due to a fortunate and somewhat 
amusing circumstance. At the close of the war, in 1865, ne 
returned home with the intention of engaging in farming. He 
began plowing the ground, and had doubtless been at work an 
hour or two when the horses, getting into a hornet's nest, ran 
away, tearing the plow and harness into flinders. Thoroughly 
disgusted, he went to the house, determined to engage in a more 
congenial business. After a conversation with his wife as 
to the stock of money on hand he decided to study medicine. 
Accordingly he entered Rush Medical College of Chicago, Sep- 
tember 28, 1865, and after attending the first course of lectures, 
commenced practicing at Somerville, Gibson county. In 1869 



130 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

he again entered college, and graduated the same year. He 
returned home and engaged in practice at Lynnville until 1876, 
when he removed to Boonville, forming a partnership with Dr. 
Scales. However, he returned to Lynnville in 1878, where he 
has since remained in the enjoyment of a wide practice. 

Dr. Tyner was born in Cynthiana, Posey county, Ind., July 
30th, 1838. His education was limited to fifteen months in the 
common schools of that time, and from his sixteenth to his 
twenty-second year he was engaged in blacksmithing. Septem- 
ber 20th, 1861, he enlisted in company K, 42d regiment Indi- 
ana volunteers, and participated in all the battles and skirmishes 
in which his company was engaged. At Goldsboro, N. C, he 
passed examination, and was commissioned as a surgeon in the 
army. He was mustered out of the service on July 28th, 1865. 
He is spoken of by his comrades as a brave and noble-hearted 
soldier, whose duty to his country as a patriotic citizen was ever 
uppermost in his mind. 

Dr. Tyner was married to Mary J . Zimmerman, of Warrick 
county, April 13, 1858. She died January 21, 1859, less than 
one year after their marriage. 

On the 30th of July, 1861, he was married to Jane Morrison, 
and by this union has had five children — four boys and one girl. 

Dr. Tyner is devoted to his profession, and he is esteemed for 
his ability and admirable personal qualities by his fellow physi- 
cians. He has attained considerable success as a medical prac- 
titioner, and in county affairs generally he is one of the fore- 
most citizens. 



Charles Gordner, Sr. 131 



CHARLES GORDNER, Sr. 

A large per cent of the business men of Warrick county are 
natives of Germany. They are nearly all men who came here 
with almost nothing, and have acquired means by frugality and 
careful management. They are now the back-bone of the coun- 
ty. Charles Gordner, sr., is a worthy representative of this 
class. He is the son of Phillip and Louisa Gordner, and was 
born at Abendtheier, Birkenfeld, in Germany, January 17th, 
1830. His father was a miller and in good circumstances. He 
received an ordinary school education, and at sixteen years of 
age was apprenticed for two years to learn blacksmithing. He 
travelled four years following his trade. 

He was married to Julia Eppinghouse, August 27th, 1852. 
The next three years he was engaged in business for himself. 
July 27th, 1855, he sailed for America, and landed at New York 
on August 27th. He came direct to Evansville, and when he 
arrived there he had only forty cents left, which he gave to a 
drayman for taking his baggage from the wharf-boat. The first 
man whose acquaintance he formed was William Heilman, who 
at once became his friend and gave him employment in the 
foundry. However, after working here several weeks he fell 
sick and lost his position. When he recovered he worked at 
whatever he could get to do until March, 1856, when he came to 
Boonville, and here formed a partnership with Phillip Schneider 
in the blacksmithing business, but it was dissolved a short time 
afterwards, leaving Mr. Gordner in debt. He then entered into 
partnership with McCoy Casey in the same business, but it, too, 
was soon dissolved on account of Casey's ill-health. Being now 
considerably in debt and much discouraged, Mr. Gordner 
went to Samuel Orr, of Evansville, who had been supplying him 
with iron, related his misfortunes and stated that with the little 
money on hand he wanted to pay off his indebtedness and 



132 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

relinquish the business. Orr told him to return to Boonville and 
go to work ; that he (Orr) would supply him with iron, which he 
might pay for whenever able. Mr. Gordner did as he was 
advised and in this manner was enabled to continue business, 
owing Samuel Orr as high as two and three hundred dollars up 
to 1863. Mr. Gordner is now in easy circumstances, but he 
still feels grateful to William Heilman and Samuel Orr, who 
were his steadfast friends when in need. Physically, Mr. Gordner 
is of low stature, but corpulent and robust, and his physiognomy 
bears a close resemblance to that of William Heilman. Mr. 
Gordner has never sought office himself, but he is a strong Re- 
publican, and a very influential member of his party, as well as 
a leading citizen. 



WILLIAM B. SCALES, M. D. 
William B. Scales, a leading practitioner of medicine of 
Boonville, was born in Pigeon township, Warrick county, on 
October 9th, 1841. His father, Thomas Scales, was recorder 
of Warrick county from 1867 to 1875, and was an old resident 
of the county, having settled in this section with his father in 
1807 (see sketch of William Scales), lie was married to Sarah 
Bogan, a native of Kentucky, in June, 1826, and they had five 
children — three girls and two boys — of whom the subject of this 
sketch is the youngest. 

Mr. Scales was a quiet unpretentious citizen, and a member of 
the Baptist church. He was born September 2, 1805, and died 
in October, 1876. 

At the age of seventeen years William B. Scales, like many 
other young men of the present, commenced teaching school 
for the purpose of earning money with which to qualify himself 
for his chosen pursuit in life, and taught several terms. He 



William B. Scales, M. D. 133 

attended the academy at Dale, Spencer county, which was one 
of the best educational institutions in Southern Indiana, during 
1859 and i860. His parents wanted him to become a lawyer, 
but he preferred the study of medicine, and he became a student 
in the office of Dr. Wra. T. Houghland, of Taylorsville, from 
1864 to 1867, when he entered the Medical College of Ohio, at 
Cincinnati. After completing his first course in college he com- 
menced practicing at West Buena Vista, Gibson county, where 
he remained five years, and then moved to Boonville. In 1876 
he formed a partnership with Dr. S. L. Tyner, and during the 
winters of 1877-8 he again attended the medical college, com- 
pleting his course. 

The partnership with Dr. Tyner was dissolved in 1878, and 
in January, 1879, another was formed with Dr. T. J. Hargan. 
In 1863 Dr. Scales enlisted in the 91st Indiana regiment, com- 
pany B, under Captain Bogan ; but on account of ill health was 
discharged, after being in the field three months. He was 
married to Emma Badger, on April 2, 1868. Dr. Scales has 
been remarkably successful in his profession. He has estab- 
lished an enviable reputation in this county as a skillful physi- 
cian, and enjoys an extensive practice. 



GUSTAVUS SCHREIBER. 
Gustavus Schreiber was born at Herford, Prussia, October 2, 
1839. His parents, August and Albertine Schreiber, were in 
good circumstances, and his father was an officer of the probate 
court in his native city. Gustavus attended the high school at 
Herford, which was superior to many of our American colleges, 
where thoroughness is compulsory, and he obtained a good 
school education. At fifteen years of age he obtained a position 
as a clerk in the Transportation and Banking House at Minden, 



134 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Prussia, where he remained four years, and it was here he 
acquired much of the excellent business knowledge, which has 
been of great service to him in after years. He was afterwards 
a travelling salesman for wholesale hardware dealers in Prussia. 
In 1865 he emigrated to this country, arriving at New York on 
the first day of May in that year. He came direct to Evans- 
ville, Indiana, where he obtained employment with Topf & 
Long, wholesale saddle and harness dealers, as book-keeper for 
the firm, and he remained with them a little over a year. In 
the fall of 1866 he became acquainted with Victor Bisch, audi- 
tor of Vanderburgh county at that time, who offered him a posi- 
tion as clerk in the auditor's office, which he accepted in order 
that he might become more familiar with the English language. 
He relinquished this place after holding it one year, and in 1867 
accepted a position with Major Blythe Hynes, at that time clerk 
of Vanderburgh county, which, however, he also relinquished at 
the end of five months, having been appointed by Victor Bisch 
as deputy assessor of Vanderburgh county. On account of the 
sickness of the assessor Mr. Schreiber was employed until May, 

1868, in making the assessment. In 1868 he was married to 
Babetta Kuechler, of Evansville, a native of Hesse Darmstadt, 
Germany. In July of the same year he moved to Inglefield, 
Vanderburgh county, where he engaged in the grocery business. 
He removed to Buckskin, Gibson county, Indiana, in February 

1869, and in partnership with his brother-in-law kept a grocery 
store. In January, 1871, Mr. Schreiber came to Boonville, and 
engaged in the hardware and grocery trade with Wm. Kinder- 
man, but in 1875 this partnership was dissolved, since when he 
has continued in the business himself, conducting it on a larger 
scale and enjoying an extensive patronage. Mr. Schreiber is an 
excellent accountant and possesses extraordinary business quali- 
fications. In 1878 he was chosen at the Democratic primary 



Gustavus Schreiber. 135 

election as the candidate of that party for auditor of Warrick 
county, but was defeated by a very small majority. However, 
this defeat was not caused by personal unpopularity, but by 
odious issues sprung by the opposition at that time which had no 
individual relation whatever to him, and no such charge was 
even made during the campaign. He was renominated for the 
office by the Democratic convention in 1880, but owing to the 
annullment by the Supreme Court of the constitutional amend- 
ments, making the election of auditor unnecessary that year, 
the candidacy was of course abandoned. He has served four 
terms as councilman of Boonville, besides holding various minor 
offices of trust and honor, and some of the most important offices 
in the several secret societies of which he is a leading member. 
Mr. Schreiber is one of the best business men in Southern In- 
diana, and he has earned an excellent reputation for integrity. 
In political matters he has always taken an active part with the 
Democratic party. Mr. Schreiber's true worth is known only by 
those who have enjoyed his intimate acquaintance. He never 
talks to the public and hence the public knows nothing of the 
man. The freedom of thought and action is sacred to him, 
and honor and honesty guides him in his intercourse with men. 



C. J. KEEGAN, M. D. 
Dr. Charles J. Keegan, who has been a practicing physician 
at Millersburg for twenty-three years, was born in Vanderburgh 
county, January 15th, 1832. His parents, Patrick and Eliza 
M. Keegan, were natives of Longford county, Ireland, and 
came to this country in their youth. Dr. Keegan obtained a 
common school education, and commenced the study of medi- 
cine under Dr. M. J. Bray, of Evansville. In 1856 he entered 
the Rush Medical College at Chicago, where he graduated in 



136 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

1858. However, during a part of 1857 he practiced at Millers- 
burg with Dr. Runcie, and after his graduation he located there. 

March 16, 1858, he was married to Lucy H. Miller, a native 
of Cumberland county, Kentucky. 

Dr. Kcegan is a Republican politically, and is an active 
worker in his party. Religiously he is a Methodist Episcopa- 
lian. He has no aspirations outside of his profession, to which 
he devotes all his energies. He was one of the charter members 
of the Warrick County Medical Society, of which he was Presi- 
dent. He is a member of the State Medical Society, and also 
of the Tri-State Medical Society. He stands high in his profes- 
sion as a practicing physician of extraordinary skill and ability. 
He is a gentleman of fine personal appearance and pleasing 
address, and is highly esteemed by his fellow citizens and pro" 
fessional brethren. 



CHARLES SCHNEIDER, Sr. 
The subject of this sketch is one of the oldest and most prom- 
inent German citizens of Boonville. He is the son of John C. 
and Louisa Schneider, and was born June 17th, 1820, in Idar, 
Fuerstenthum, Province of Birkenfeld, in Germany. His parents 
were in comfortable circumstances, and he received a good com- 
mon school education. At thirteen years of age he was appren- 
ticed to learn the silversmith trade, and he travelled through 
Germany eight years following that business. In 1848 he emi- 
grated to America, arriving at New Orleans. He came direct 
to Evansville, and after spending a week there came to Boon- 
ville, where he remained with his uncle during the winter. He 
then returned to Evansville, and learned the gunsmith trade 
with Chas. Kellar, with whom he remained five years. August 
25th, 1853, he was married to Phillipina Hepp. In June, 1854, 



Charles Schneider, Sr. 137 

he removed to Boonville, and engaged in gunsmithing in a log 
cabin on the west side of the public square, where a row of 
brick business houses now stand. He has been a witness to 
and a participant in the business progress of the town for now 
almost thirty years. Last year he opened a large and well 
selected grocery store in Boonville, which he has intrusted to his 
son William. He has six children. The eldest, Charles Schnei- 
der, jr., is of the firm of Baker & Schneider, druggists, of 
Boonville. 

Mr. Schneider has lived a quiet, unpretentious life, and was 
never a candidate for political office. He is a leading member 
of the German M. E. Church of Boonville, and is a highly 
esteemed citizen. 



JOHN L. TAYLOR 
Among the very young men of Warrick county who have 
received honorable recognition at the hands of the people none 
of the present day are more prominent than John Lewis Taylor. 
He was born August 30th, 1850, in Anderson township, Warrick 
county, and is the eldest son of Peter and Jane Taylor. Until 
twenty-three years of age he worked on his father's farm, and his 
school advantages were very poor, but in 1869 his father moved 
to Boonville, and he attended the graded school at this place 
two years. In 1871 he taught school in Anderson township, 
and the following spring attended the Normal school at Oakland 
City, Indiana. In the fall of 187 1 he entered the freshman 
class for a scientific course in the State University at Blooming- 
ton, Indiana, and attended regularly three years, completing the 
junior course. He then returned home and during the winter 
of 1875-6 taught the graded school at Lynnville, this county. 
During the intervals of school hours he read law, and at the 



138 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

close of his school in the spring of 1876 he entered the office of 
Judge John B. Handy and pursued his law studies with avid- 
ity. It was during this year that he first took an active part in 
politics, canvassing the county in company with Hon. Benoni S. 
Fuller, then a candidate for re-election to Congress, and speak- 
ing in the interest of Tilden and the Democratic party. During 
the winter of 1876-7 he was teacher of the grammar grade in the 
Boonville schools. At the close of his school he was admitted 
to the bar and formed a partnership with John T. Thompson, 
with whom he had studied law in Judge Handy's office. After 
practicing about one year this partnership was dissolved, and in 
October, 1877, Mr. Taylor entered the Cincinnati Law School, 
which he attended regularly until his graduation on the 20th of 
May, 1878. He returned home and two weeks afterwards was 
nominated by the Democratic party for representative of War- 
rick county. He was elected by an overwhelming majority, 
being by far the largest received by any candidate on either tick- 
et, which is an auspicious beginning of political life for one so 

young as the subject. 

January 5th, 1879, he was married to Katie E., daughter of 
Dr. W. L. Barker, a lady of extraordinary social qualities. 

Mr. Taylor's career in the Legislature is worthy of passing 
notice. While he was watchful of the interests of his constitu- 
ents, he made no attempt to display statesmanship or take rank 
as a leader, as is too often the fault with ambitious young men 
just entering public life, but by "allowing his light to shine with 
becoming modesty," and being faithful to his trust, he won the 
esteem of both opponent and constituent. He was a creditable 
representative of the county and his official record in the State 
Legislature is one that will bear the closest scrutiny. 

At the close of the session of the Legislature Mr. Taylor re- 
turned home and in partnership with W. H. Patterson again 




Charles Parke, M. D. 



John Z. Taylor. 139 

commenced the practice of law. He has held the office of clerk 
of Boonville for two terms. In 1876 he was appointed deputy- 
prosecutor for Warrick county by G. L. Rheinhard, but on 
entering law school in 1877 resigned. On his return home from 
the Legislature in 1879 ne was re-appointed to the position, 
which he held until the expiration of the term in 1880. He was 
admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court in 1879. 

In 1880 he was appointed contingent Presidential elector for 
the First Congressional District by the Democratic State conven- 
tion. In the Presidential campaign of 1880 he took a very 
active part and was chosen as chairman of the Democratic cen- 
tral committee of Warrick county to succeed John Nester. He 
is recognized in his party as a leader and is very popular. 

Socially, Mr. Taylor is an affable gentleman, and those most 
intimately acquainted with him like him best. He is a lover of 
literature and reads much desultorily. A prominent character- 
istic is his fearless manner of expressing his convictions and the 
zeal with which he supports his cause. 



CHARLES PARKE, M. D. 

Dr. Charles Parke, of Millersburgh, was born in Westneath 
county, Ireland, the boyhood home of Oliver Goldsmith, on 
June 3rd, 1836. His parents, Robert and Catherine Parke, 
came to America when he was five years old, and settled in 
Vanderburgh county, where he was raised. His grandfather, 
George Simpson, was wounded at the battle of Waterloo, and 
was a pensioned soldier of the British government. 

The subject of this sketch received such an education as was 
afforded by the common schools, and he then taught school 
several terms to save money with which to attend college. He 
entered the State University at Bloomington, Ind., in 1853, and 



140 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

was in the junior class at the time of beginning of the war. He 
enlisted in company C of the 6th Kentucky cavalry, under Col. 
Halisey, and was in the United States service three years, and 
the State service two months. He participated in the battles of 
Richmond, Ky. , Chicamauga, and nearly all the battles of the 
army of the Cumberland, besides having an almost daily skir- 
mish with the enemy. He was one of the seventy-five soldiers 
that defended themselves for over eight hours in the Rasacca 
court-house against an army of three thousand, which was one 
of the most heroic achievements of the late war. He was also 
one of the three that captured Col. Orton Williams, chief of 
artillery on Bragg's staff, who was a spy in the union camp at 
Franklin, Tenn. His war career was one of unusual exposure 
and active service, and he can recount hour after hour incidents 
of personal experience of thrilling interest. He enlisted Novem- 
ber 20th, 1 86 1, and was discharged December 2 2d, 1864. 

After the close of the war he commenced the study of medi- 
cine with Drs. Runcie and Hilliard, of Millersburgh. He 
graduated at the Miami Medical College, of Cincinnati, March 1, 
1867, and at once commenced practicing in Millersburgh, where 
he has since resided. He was married June 24, 1869, to Mary 
A. Jarrett, of Warrick county, and they have three children, 
viz: J. F., Clara B., and Chas. A. Parke. 

Dr. Parke has always been a Republican, having cast his 
first vote for Oliver P. Morton and Abraham Lincoln. He is a 
member of the Episcopal church, and it is to his support that the 
building of Union church, of Millersburgh, is largely due. He 
is also a member of the Masonic order. He is strongly opposed 
to the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, and the 
zealousness with which he has advocated these principles has 
stamped him as the champion of the temperance cause in this 
section. He enjoys a large, lucrative practice, is interested in 
various enterprises, and is a gentleman that generally leads and 
succeeds in whatever he undertakes. 



/. E. Youngblood. 141 



I. E. YOUNGBLOOD. 
Israel Ephraim Youngblood, the third of a family of five chil- 
dren, was born August 5th, 1840, five miles south of Boonville, 
in Warrick county. His father, James W. Youngblood, was a son 
of the Rev. John W. Youngblood, the pioneer preacher, and was 
born in Warrick county. When the subject was only five years 
of age his father died, leaving the widow and a family of five 
children wholly dependent upon themselves for a livelihood. 
However, Mrs. Youngblood was a woman of rare energy and 
executiveness, and by industry and frugality she succeeded in 
rearing her little family in comfort, besides giving them such 
local school advantages as the county at that time afforded. By 
force of necessity our subject performed the duties of a farm 
laborer at a very early age, together with his two brothers, the 
fruits of their industry going toward the support of the family 
and the improvement of their home. When twenty-one years 
old a horse afflicted with fistula was given him by his mother, 
which he succeeded in curing, and sold at a fair price. His 
mother needing money at that time, he gave her all of the 
amount, in return for which she gave him a colt. He after- 
wards sold the colt to his brother for $125, and this money he 
decided to spend towards obtaining an education. Accordingly 
he entered the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute in 
March, 187 1. At the close of the spring term he returned 
home and raised a crop of tobacco during the summer, and 
sowed wheat in the fall. The proceeds of this crop were com- 
paratively large, and he was now able to repay borrowed money 
which he had used in defraying school expenses. After attend- 



142 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

ing a second term of the State Normal School, he returned 
home and worked on the farm. In the winter of 1872-3 he 
taught school in Ohio township, and saved sufficient money, to 
attend the Normal School a part of the winter and all the spring 
term of 1873. The winter of 1873-4 he taught school in Boon 
township. With the money he had now saved, and after bor- 
rowing a small amount, he re-entered the State Normal School 
in the spring of 1874, and attended regularly until his gradua- 
tion in June, 1875. The perseverance here manifested in 
obtaining an education under such adverse circumstances 
deserves praise, and is a worthy example to the poor young 
man who would improve his condition. ., 

The young graduate now returned home, but being too ambi- 
tious to again teach a country school, borrowed $25 at twenty- 
five per cent, interest, and started out in the world to obtain a 
more lucrative position in his chosen avocation. He was chosen 
principal of a school of two grades at Oaktown, Knox county, 
Indiana, at a salary of $4.00 per day, and in the spring of the 
following year taught a normal school at Carlisle, Indiana. To 
earn money with which to visit the Centennial Exposition in 
1876 he taught a select school in Bethel township, Posey county, 
during July and August of that year, after which he went on a 
tour through the East, visiting some of the principal cities and 
popular resorts. In the fall of 1876 he was chosen principal of 
the graded school at McCutchanville, Vanderburg county, and 
he here taught several branches with remarkable success which 
he had not studied while at the State Normal School. 

In June, 1877, Mr. Youngblood was elected superintendent of 
the schools of Warrick county. Under his administration there 
has been a marked improvement in the schools of the county, 
and they have advanced fully fifty per cent He was the first 
superintendent to grade the schools of the county, besides which 




Mrs. M. J. Husk 



L E. Youngblood.. 143 

he has introduced many valuable new ideas and rules into the 
system of school government. He was re-elected to the office of 
county superintendent upon the expiration of his term in 1879. 

In July, 1879, he purchased the Boonville Standard, but on 
account of his duties as county superintendent preventing him 
from giving the paper his attention, W. W. Admire was made its 
editor, until it became necessary for Mr. Youngblood to assume 
full control in June, 1880. The Standard is the only Republi- 
can paper in the county, and Mr. Youngblood succeeded in 
placing it on a sound financial basis while under his manage- 
ment. In July, 1 88 1, he sold the paper to R. M. Graham. 

Mr Youngblood is not yet in the prime of life, and being a 
man of extraordinary stability of character, tenacity of will and 
perseverance, promises a future of usefulness. 



MRS. M. J. HUSK. 

While in the lives of women we do not find the achievements 
of the soldier or statesman, still we do find many representatives 
of that sex whose lives have been devoted to the amelioration of 
those around them, and whose attainments in life are equally as 
commendable and deserving of chronicling. 

Mrs. Mary Jane Husk nee Kallams, the subject of this brief 
sketch, was born January 20th, 1836, near Harrodsburgh, in 
Mercer county, Kentucky. Her parents died when she was an 
infant, and she was adopted and reared by the family of James 
Curry, a gentleman in affluent circumstances, of Harrodsburgh, 
Kentucky. The orphan and her adopted relatives became 
greatly attached to each other, and she was treated very kindly. 
At fifteen years of age she entered the female academy at Har- 
rodsburgh, which she attended for some time. 

She was united in marriage to George K. Husk, in Hancock 



144 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

county, Kentucky, September 12th, 1849, and in 1852 they 
removed to Skelton township, Warrick county, where Mr. Husk 
engaged in farming. At the breaking out of the late war Mr. 
Husk enlisted in the army and the management of the farm 
came into the hands of his wife. She managed it with great care 
and economy, which demonstrated her extraordinary executive 
ability. On her husband's return from the army, he found his 
farm bearing every evidence of thrift. In 1875 tne Y remov- 
ed to Boonville and opened the Prince Albert hotel, of which 
Mrs. Husk is still proprietress. April 1st, 1880, her hus- 
band died, after an illness of only fifteen days. Mrs. Husk 
is a devout christian and charitable lady. The hungry never 
appeal to her in vain. She has a warm heart and her charitable 
deeds are a noteworthy characteristic. As an instance, we would 
mention her having reared two orphans, giving them a comfort- 
able home and every advantage for improvement. She is ben- 
evolent to a worthy cause. It is to her frugality that Mrs. 
Husk mostly attributes her success. She is a very intelligent 
and refined lady, whose life has been one of extraordinary use- 
fulness in her sphere. 



JOHN A. REYNOLDS. 

John A. Reynolds is known " far and wide " by his bold and 
original ideas upon theology. Once a pupil of the Sunday school 
and a member of the church, to-day he declares himself an 
atheist. Although a farmer by occupation — a successful one, 
too — he has devoted his life to the study and investigation of 
theological and kindred subjects. He is always willing to give 
his reasons for his singular convictions to those soliciting them, 
and in defense of the position which he has assumed he offers to 
discuss the question with any one, at any time and place. 

John A. Reynolds was born at Thompson, Geauga county, 



John A. Reynolds. 145 

Ohio, July 9th, 1 81 9. He was left an orphan and at four years 
of age he was bound to Enoch Scott, a farmer, but he purchased 
his freedom when nineteen years old for $50. His career has 
been a remarkable one. In 1840 he settled in Warrick county. 
October 9th, 1842, he was married to Percilla Houghland, of 
this county. 

He has been an assiduous student of theology from boyhood, 
and has read nearly every work worthy perusal pertaining to the 
subject. While his bold atheistic declarations astonish his 
neighbors, all respect him, and he is regarded as an upright citi- 
zen, a kind husband and father. He affirms that he is the 
strongest atheist in the world. The singular views he holds 
upon some questions he expresses in the following words : 

"I believe that this earth is a part of the central sun; 
I believe that Nature, the natural forces or causes, such as air, 
water, etc., produce all animal and vegetable life upon earth ; I 
believe the doctrine of a Supreme Being is a fallacy ; I believe 
that Nature never steps out of her routine, and that she don't 
know the cry of an infant from the howl of the hyena." He is 
a zealous advocate of the unlimited freedom of speech. He is 
now sixty-two years old, hale and hearty, but he has retired 
from the active work of life, and is awaiting, to use his own 
words, the "end of his existence." He has written his own epi- 
taph, which tells the story of this strange man's life in the fol- 
lowing words : 

" "Death is an eternal sleep. 
Here moulders in the dusk abode 
One whom to faith no homage showed. 
By moral law, his life he tried, 
While social duty was his guide, 
And pure philanthropy the end of all he did. 
Or could intend 

"Prayer he pronounced impiety — 
Vain prompter of divine decree, 
That oft implores with erring zeal 
For boon subversive of its weal." 



146 Warrick and its Prominent People. 



JAMES W. CABBAGE. 

James Willis Cabbage was born September 12th, 1830, inRus- 
sel county, Kentucky. His parents are John and Nancy Cab- 
bage. The father of John Cabbage died when he was quite 
young, leaving the family in poor circumstances, and it became 
his duty to help support his widowed mother ; hence, he was 
ostracized from all educational advantages, and it was not until 
the subject became old enough to teach him that he learned to 
read and write. He came to Warrick county in 1832, settling 
in Hart township, where he remained until his removal to Ala- 
bama many years ago. He was a farmer, and was a man of 
unquestioned integrity, strong common sense and unflagging in- 
dustry. 

James W. is the eldest of nine children. His father felt the 
need of an education, and was determined that his children 
should have the full benefit of such advantages as were afforded 
in this part of the country at that time, which were, of course, 
very limited. James was, accordingly, sent to such "subscrip- 
tion schools" as were taught in the neighborhood, where he 
learned reading, writing, orthography and arithmetic — the only 
branches taught by the " Hoosier schoolmaster'' of that time. 
In his twentieth year, he was granted license and commenced 
teaching school in Hart township. He taught seven successive 
years. During 1855 ne attended Delaney Academy, at New- 
burgh. 

August 30th, 1856, he was married to Tillitha Lowe, whose 
father, Captain Simon P. Lowe, was a man of prominence in 
county affairs for several years. He held the office of county 




James W. Cabbage. 



James W. Cabbage 147 

treasurer and county commissioner, and was representative 
in the State Legislature for a number of years. The result of 
this union has been nine children — six boys and three girls — all 
of whom are living, except one. After his marriage, Mr. Cab- 
bage engaged in farming, where he now lives, which he pursued 
successfully, without intermission, until called upon by his fel- 
low citizens to represent them in the State Legislature. 

He has always taken an active interest in all great political 
issues, and although an adherent of party, he entertains, and does 
not fear to express, ideas of the most liberal and conservative 
character. He is a friend, but not a slave to party. During the 
late war he advocated the cause of the Union, " Because," he 
says, "I believe that equal rights and freedom of all mankind 
is a divine law, and the government our forefathers gave us 
we must protect." 

Mr. Cabbage is, and always has been, a Democrat. He cast 
his first vote for Franklin Pierce, and there has not been a Dem- 
ocratic convention, or an election in Warrick county since he at- 
tained his majority, that he has not attended. In 1878 his name 
was placed before the Democratic primary election for repre- 
sentative of Warrick county, but he was defeated. In 1880 he 
was nominated for the same office and elected. His career in 
the Legislature is known to the people throughout the State. 
He went there with the hope and intention of doing good. How- 
far he succeeded, his constituents may judge. He originated 
and secured the passage of one bill alone, which will be a last- 
ing benefit to the State, i. e.: the law for the protection of timber. 
Governor Hendricks said of it: " It is one of the most sensible, 
practicable and timely measures that has been brought before 
the Legislature." Mr. Cabbage is a plain man — a man of the 
people — knowing by experience their wants and these he gave 



148 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

his attention, so far as possible, during the crowded session of 
1 88 1. While he does not claim to be infallible, there is nothing 
in his official record that he is ashamed of. 

The predominant trait in Mr. Cabbage's character is his hon- 
esty ; and 

"An honest man is the noblest work of Uod." 



COMMODORE KELLEY. 

Among the younger successful business men whose lives have 
been beset by disadvantages, Commodore Kelley, present trus- 
tee of Owen township, merits attention. He was born March 
31st, 1844, in Skelton township. He is the fifth son and eighth 
child of Isham and Eliza Kelley. His father was born in 
Anderson county, Kentucky, in 18 10, and he came to Warrick 
county with his uncle in 1820. He has lived in Skelton and 
Owen townships since and has reared a large family. As one 
of the industrious pioneers to whose labors the present state of 
development of these townships is due, Mr. Kelley is entitled 
to remembrance. 

Commodore worked on his father's farm until eighteen years 

old. His educational advantages were the very poorest, 
being limited to a few weeks in all of irregular attendance at the 
very inferior schools of that time in Skelton township. He 
received instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic, and the 
rest of his education has been obtained by close self-application 
and observation. At the breaking out of the late war his patri- 
otism was aroused and he determined to risk his life in defense 
of the union, although he had not reached hiseighteenth year — 
the age required by the regiment being organized at that time. 
However, he was not to be debarred the privilege of enlisting 
because he lacked a few weeks of being old enough, and so he 
represented to the officers that he was eighteen years of age. He 



Commodore Kelley. 149 

enlisted in company E, of the sixty-fifth Indiana regiment on 
August nth, 1 86 1. He was detailed as a teamster and was 
promoted to wagon-master of the regiment while in North Caro- 
lina in 1863. He held this position until the close of the war. 
In 1862 he was seriously injured while riding a spirited horse, 
from the effects of which he has never fully recovered. He was 
in nearly all the er ^ gements of his regiment. In July, 1864, 
he was mustered out of the service. He then worked on his 
father's farm two years, after which he engaged in farming for 
himself in Skelton township. December 9th, 1867, he was mar- 
ried to Mary E. Skelton, whose parents were among the earliest 
settlers of the county. They have three children — two girls and 
one boy. In 1873, Mr. Kelley movedto Folsomville. In 1879, 
in partnership with Marion Folsom, he opened a grocery, dry 
goods, drug and general merchandise establishment. He is also 
proprietor of the hotel, livery stable and steam thresher at that 
place, and is an extensive dealer in cattle. He is a Democrat, 
and is a leader of his party in Owen township. In 1880, he was 
elected trustee of Owen township. By energy, enterprise and 
strict integrity he has attained the position among his fellow-citi- 
zens of a leading business man, and by his always courteous dis- 
position, has won an enviable popularity. 



WILLIAM H. BONE. 
William H. Bone was born May 24, 1837, in Warrick county. 
His parents were John and Arty M. Bone. His father was a 
native of Kentucky, but he came to Warrick county at an early 
day. The school advantages of the subject were limited and 
very poor. He was left an orphan when only eleven years old, 
and he has had to work his way up in life. The only schooling 
he received was nine months' attendance at a school taught by 



150 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

James W. Cabbage, the present representative of Warrick 
county. What other knowledge he has acquired has been with- 
out the aid of a teacher. When seventeen years of age he ob- 
tained employment as a clerk in the dry goods store of Abraham 
Chambers, at Lynnville, where he remained some time. He 
taught three terms of school in Pike county and two in Warrick 
county. In i860, he was elected constable of Owen township. 
October 30th, 1859, he was married to Abthia F. Burris, and the 
result of this union was eight children. In 1861, he removed to 
Crowville, Warrick county, where he was employed in the dry- 
goods and tobacco establishment of Bethell & Floyd until 1862, 
when he moved to Boonville. He remained there until 1864, in 
the capacity of clerk in the grocery store of J. W. Thompson. 
February 8th, 1875, he enlisted in company D, 143rd regiment 
of Indiana volunteers, and remained in the service until August, 
1865, when they were mustered out. He then lived at Crow- 
ville four years. In 1869, he removed to Folsomville and took 
charge of the tobacco establishment of Hudspeth & Shryock. He 
remained in their employ until 1873, when, in partnership with 
W. H. Pancake, he purchased the establishment. However, he 
sold his interest the year following to Benjamin Folsom, who was 
the founder of Folsomville, and engaged in farming the next two 
years. In 1877, he made a "purchase of tobacco" in Camp- 
bell township, for Jacob Seitz, Esq., and, in 1878, he made an- 
other "tobacco purchase" under the firm name of W. H. Bone 
&Co., at Winslow, Pike county. In 1879 he returned to Fol- 
somville and engaged in the dry goods and grocery business. 
He again purchased the large tobacco factory at that place, and 
is now engaged solely in buying and shipping tobacco. Mr. 
Bone is a " self-made man," and he is one of the foremost citi- 
zens of Owen township. 



John B. Cockrum. 151 



JOHN B. COCKRUM. 
John Barrett Cockrum was born September 12th, 1857, at Oak- 
land, Gibson county, Indiana. His grandfather, Col. J. W. 
Cockrum, was a Colonel of the Indiana State Militia during the 
Mexican war. He settled in Gibson county at a time when the 
country was a wilderness, and was the founder of the town of 
Oakland. The father of the subject, Col. William M. Cock- 
rum, was reared in the vicinity, where he still lives, and was for 
a time an extensive speculator in tobacco in Gibson county. 
When the late war broke out he organized company F, of the 
42d Indiana regiment, and was chosen first lieutenant, while 
his uncle, Captain Barrett, was made captain. However, Bar- 
rett resigned, and Mr. Cockrum was chosen captain to fill the 
vacancy. He was seriously wounded at the battle of Chicka- 
mauga, and for seventeen days laid on the battle-field, receiving 
attention from no one except the Confederate surgeons. He 
was then taken to Libby prison where he lay seven months. Upon 
his recovery he was made commander of the post military prison 
at Nashville, which position he held one year. He was also 
one of the party that had charge of the notorious Captain Wirz, 
of Andersonville fame, and conducted him from Nashville to 
Washington, D. C. In 1864, he was promoted to Lieutenant- 
Colonel of the 42d Indiana regiment, which position he held 
until the close of the war. He then returned to his home, at 
Oakland, Indiana, where he still lives. 

Up to his seventeenth year, John B. Cockrum, the immediate 
subject of this sketch, attended the Oakland Normal Institute, 
where he graduated. The three subsequent years he taught 



152 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

school during the winter, and in the summer read law, with Hon. 
J. E. McCullough, of Princeton. In 1878, he entered the Cin- 
cinnati Law school, and graduted with the degree of Bachelor 
of Laws, on May 14, 1879. He was married January22, 1880, 
to Fannie C. Bittrolf daughter of George A. Bittrolf, Esq., of 
Evansville. In August, 1879, he located in Boonville, and en- 
tered into a partnership with Charles W. Armstrong in the prac- 
tice of law. He conducts a case with tact, and is an advocate 
of ability. He has been successful in the short time that he has 
been practicing, and is one of the most promising young members 
of the Warrick county bar. 



WILLIAM H. McVEY, M. D 

William Henry McVey, a well-known medical practitioner at 
Selvin, and the subject of this sketch, was born June 22, 1842, 
in Grass township, Spencer county, Indiana. His parents were 
Samuel and Permelia McVey, both of whom were natives of 
Virginia. They came to Spencer county in about 1832, where 
they spent the remainder of their lives. The father of the sub- 
ject was a farmer, and commenced life in poor circumstances, 
but through successful management and hard work had accumu- 
lated sufficient to live in ease at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred when William was only a small boy. 

The opportunities of William for obtaining an education were 
limited to the common country schools of Spencer county, which, 
however, he had the full benefit of. When eighteen years old 
he commenced teaching school in Spencer county. He pursued 
school-teaching in winter, and during the summer studied med- 
icine. Dr. Perragrine, of Centerville, Spencer county, was his 
preceptor. 

In 1864, he entered the Eclectic Medical College, of Cincin- 
nati, and graduated in 1868. 



William H. McVey, M. D. 153 

He subsequently located at Crowville, Warrick county, where 
he held a wide and successful practice for seven years. In 1875 
he moved to Taylorsville, (now Selvin), where he has since re- 
mained, enjoying an enviable professional patronage. 

July 6th, 1865, Dr. McVey was married to Martha Thomp- 
son, who is a native of Kentucky, but at that time was a resi- 
dent of Warrick county. 

Doctor McVey is a Democrat, and is an influential member of 
of his party in his section of the county. In 1878 he was a 
candidate for the nomination for representative of Warrick 
county, but was defeated. He was elected trustee of Pigeon 
township in 1880. 

In the practice of his profession Doctor McVey, as already 
stated, has been very successful, and, although interested in the 
mercantile business, he has earned his all in this way. As a 
physician and citizen he stands high among his fellowmen, and 
his social qualities are such that have won him a large circle of 
friends. 



WILLIAM S. WHITTINGHTLL. 
William Stuart Whittinghill was born June 16th, 1852, in 
Pigeon township, Warrick county. His grandfather settled in 
Lane township as early as 181 5, where his father, Pleasant N., 
was born. He is of German-Scotch descent. The subject 
worked on his father's farm until he was eighteen years old. 
The rudiments of his education were obtained in the common 
country schools of Warrick and Spencer counties. In 187 1, 
he attended the Boonville Graded School, and afterward spent 
a term of twelve weeks in the Normal Institute, at Oakland, 
Indiana. He also attended school at Gentryville, Spencer county, 
ten months, and in September, 1872, entered the sophomore class 
*3 



154 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

in the State University, at Bloomington, Indiana. He graduated 
in 1875, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Science. In 1876 
he was chosen principal of the high school at Huntingburgh, 
Indiana. While at college he had studied the German language 
about five months, and after his removal to Huntingburgh, 
where nearly the entire population is German, he became so 
far familiar with the language, through his associations, that he 
was enabled to teach it with success and now speaks it very 
fluently. 

While yet a student he had singled out the profession of law 
as his chosen pursuit, and began the study of it while attending 
college. He was admitted to the bar, in Spencer county, in 
1877, and commenced the practice of law at Huntingburgh dur- 
ing the same year, being favored with a liberal patronage until 
his removal to Selvin, (formerly Taylorsville), Warrick county, 
in 1879, where he has since resided. In 1880, he was nomin- 
ated by the Republican party for representative of Warrick 
county, but was defeated by a majority of 151, the regular Dem- 
ocratic majority in the county having been from 350 to 400 prior 
to that time. Mr. Whittinghill is a gentleman of refinement and 
culture, and possesses ability of an extraordinary character. He 
presents a very handsome physique, and socially is a person 
whom it affords one pleasure to meet. He is now in his thirtieth 
year, and gives promise of becoming a leading member of his 
chosen profession. 



BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES. 



Bates, Bela N., an old citizen of Boonville, was born in 
Hampshire county, Massachusetts, April 13, 181 5. At an 
early age he learned shoemaking, but during the "hard times" 
about 1837 he shipped on board a whaling vessel for South Ameri- 
ca. On account of severe treatment from the commanding officer 
he left the ship at Brazil, where he remained about four months. 
He saw Dom Pedro when a boy and others of the royal family 
a number of times. In 1841 he came to Boonville and engaged 
in shoemaking. He did a successful trade for several years and 
retired. He was married to Jane Perigo, on March 12 th, 1843 
and they had three children, only one of whom, Mrs. G. H. Spen- 
cer, ot Joplin, Mo., is now living. 



Gampbell, James W., was born three miles north of Boonville, 
September 29th, 1852. His mother isasisterof Hon. Benoni 
S. Fuller. He taught two terms of school, but in 1879 g ave U P 
his school and accepted a position as clerk in the store of J. M. 
Hudspeth & Co. In 1880 he was nominated by the Democratic 
party for Sheriff of Warrick county and was elected by a major- 
ity of one hundred and sixty-eight votes over the three candi- 
dates — Jacob Seitz, Republican; W. A. Williams, Independent, 
and Isaac Boyer, National. This was an auspicious victory. Mr. 
Campbell is well-known throughout the county and is a popular 
and promising young man. 



156 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

Gook, Frederick, trustee of Greer township, was born May 
1 8th, 1847, m Cambridgeshire, England. His parents, Jos- 
eph and Mary Cook, emigrated to America in 1851 and came 
direct to Warrick county, where the father engaged in farming. 
Frederick received his education in the common schools of this 
county. February 18th, 1862, when only fourteen years old, he 
enlisted in company C, sixty-third Indiana regiment of volun- 
teers and carried a musket and participated in all battles of his 
regiment the same as other soldiers. He never missed an hour of 
active duty on account of sickness or for other causes, excepting 
an eight day furlough. He was in the battles at Bull Run, Ra- 
sacca, Franklin, Nashville, Altoona Hills, Fort Anderson, and 
ten others of minor importance. He was mustered out of the 
service in May, 1865. Mr. Cook has been married twice — the 
first time on December 2, 1867, to Elizabeth Butcher, of War- 
rick, who died November 29, 1876, from drinking water pois- 
oned by Edward Leyer, the horrible particulars of which are 
still fresh in the minds of Warrick county people. April 11, 
1878, Mr. Cook was married to Mary A. Irons. His family 
consists of five children, four by his first and one by his second 
wife. Mr. Cook has twice been elected constable of Greer town 
ship. In 1880 he was elected trustee on the Republican ticket, 
which is an unprecedented occurrence in the political history of 
the township. He is a very courteous gentleman, and possesses 
an enviable reputation for strict integrity and he is one of the 
foremost citizens of Greer township. 



Davis, William Robinson, was born September 9th, 1827, in 
Mercer county, Kentucky. His father, Rev. Thomas S. 
Davis, was a travelling preacher. His mother, whose maiden 
name was Robinson, died when he was four years old. He 
lived with his grandfather until eight years of age, when, his 



Brief Biographies. 157 

father having married again, he returned to the "paternal roof." 
His father came to Warrick county in 1839 and settled where 
the subject now lives, which was at that time a dense forest. Al- 
though his opportunities were the very poorest, he possesses a 
practical education. The "rule o' three" is associated with his 
remembrance of schools in his boyhood as a very important 
branch — in the opinion of the old-time Hoosier school-master. 
To obtain money with which to purchase his books, pens, paper, 
etc., he would kill coons and sell their skins. Mr. Davis has 
always been a farmer and he is one of the most successful in the 
county. January 1, 1852, he was married to Mary Perigo, an 
exemplary wife and a pleasant, hospitable lady. She is a half-sister 
to Ezekiel Perigo, Esq. The fruits of this union has been but 
one child : a daughter now dead. However, they have raised 
several orphan children. Mr. Davis has been a Republican 
since the organization of the party and, although he takes an 
interest in politics, he never sought office. He is a leading 
farmer and has been a liberal supporter, according to his means, 
of every important enterprise in the county for the last twenty- 
five years. 



>ial, John C, of Hart township, was born October 15, 1817, 
"in Clermont county, Ohio, near Batavia. His early educa- 
tional advantages were limited to about two months every two 
years in the backwoods schools of that time. He received the 
greatest part of his education by private tutorage and at a very 
early age was a master of Smiley's arithmetic as taught at that 
time and he was considered a critical grammarian by his instruc- 
tors. He was well acquainted with General U. S. Grant when 
the latter was a cadet at West Point and his reminiscenses of the 
illustrious warrior are interesting and amusing. Mr. Dial has 
been married three times. February 10th, 1842, he was married 



158 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

to Isabella Brooks, of Clermont county, Ohio, and they had 
seven children. She died February n, 1856 On January 1st, 
1857, he was married to Josephine Myrirk, also a native of 
Clermont county, Ohio, and the result of this union was three 
children. Her death occurred August n, 1865. February 27 ? 
1866 he was married to Mrs. Rachel Edwards, nee Abshire — 
his present wife — who is a native of Warrick county. In 1842 
Mr. Dial came to Warrick county and settled in Hart township, 
where he now lives. At that time there were no roads through 
that section of country between the Boonville and Lynnville and 
Boonville and Crowville roads and it was chiefly through his 
instrumentality that the present highways were opened. Wild 
game was plentiful and the country was very sparsely settled. 
Mr. Dial has always been a Democrat, rather preferring to serve 
his party than ask of it official favor. 



Bickey, Fines J., M. D., was born at Ridgeway, Gallatin 
county, Illinois, May 4th, 1854. In 1876 he commenced 
the study of homoepathy with Dr. E. J. Ehrman, of Evansville, 
and graduated at the Pulte Medical College, of Cincinnati, 
March 4th, 1879. He came to Boonville the same month and 
commenced the practice of medicine, and has been remarkably 
successful. He is the leading homoepathic physician in this 
section. 



"|T\ckstein, Leonard, a leading grocer of Boonville, was born 
JL^ in Jackson county, Indiana, in 1847. He came to Boonville 
in 1 87 1 in poor circumstances. He chopped wood and did team- 
ing for the Lake Erie, Evansville & Southwestern railroad, being 
built at that time, and afterward engaged in marketing. By strict 



Brief Biographies. 159 

economy and close application to business he accumulated suf- 
ficient means to engage in the grocery business in 1877. To-day 
he is one of the leading business men in the county. His suc- 
cess may all be attributed to his sterling business principles. Mr. 
Eckstein was married, in 1870, to Louisa Price, of Jackson 
county, and they now have two children. 



£wen. George, M. D., was born in Philadelphia, on April 
19th, 1832, and his parents were Jeddiah and Ellen Ewen. 
He received his education partly in the schools at Philadelphia, 
and partly in Delaney Academy, at Newburgh, where he at- 
tended four school terms. The summer of 1844 he spent on the 
Ohio river, in the storeboat business. His parents came to New- 
burgh in January, 1845. During 1849 and 1850 he was a 
clerk in the store of A. M. Phelps, Esq., and during the winter 
of 1850 and 1851 he taught school in Ohio township. In 1852 
he went to Philadelphia for the purpose of learning the drug 
business, and served an apprenticeship of two years, with J. 
Bringhurst, returning to Newburgh in 1854. He then went to 
Evansville and was engaged as a clerk in the well-known whole- 
sale drug establishment of Keller & White. However, he re- 
turned home, and, during the winter of 1855 and 1856, again 
taught school in Warrick county. In 1856 he commenced the 
study of medicine under Doctor J. R. Tilman, of Newburgh, 
and during the winters of 1856 and 1857 attended medical lec- 
tures at Keokuk, Iowa. He was in the Marine Hospital, in 
Evansville, with Doctor M. J. Bray, from May, 1857, to March, 
1858, when he formed a partnership with Dr. J. S. Houghland, 
of Eureka, Spencer county, Indiana, where he practiced medi- 
cine until 1866. In July, 1866, he came to Wheatonville, War- 
rick county, Indiana, and has been practicing there since. Doc- 



160 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

tor Ewen is one of the oldest and most successful physicians in 
the county, being third among the oldest. Four years practical 
and skillful experience in compounding drugs, with a thorough 
course of instruction in medicine, qualified him in an extraor- 
dinary degree for the practice of his profession. 



rULLER, William W., superintendent of the Warrick county 
schools, was born July 29, 1856, in Hart township, War- 
rick county. His parents were Isham and Agnes Fuller, and he 
is a brother to Hon. Benoni S. Fuller. In 1874 he entered the 
Oakland Normal Institute, and attended two terms. He also 
attended the Worthington (Indiana) High School during 1876. 
He has taught school and been identified with the educational 
interests of the county for several years. In 1880 he entered 
the Indiana State University, and was a member of the sopho- 
more class at the time of his election to the office of county 
superintendent, in June, 1881. He is, doubtless, the youngest 
county superintendent in the State. Mr. Fuller is a young 
gentleman of rare ability and promise, and is very popular among 
the people generally. 



Graham. Robert M., editor and proprietor of the Boonville 
Standard, was born November 10th, 1849, in Boonville, 
where he lived with his parents until eleven years old, when they 
removed to a farm, in Hart township, Warrick county. His 
education consisted of such as he could obtain in the common 
country schools, after which he attended the Boonville High 
School one term. Possessing an insatiable thirst for knowledge, 
and a very retentive memory, he has, however, by a habit of 
desultory reading, gained an extensive knowledge of general 



Brief Biographies. 161 

literature. July 26, 1872, he was married to Mary J. Hunsaker. 
In 1873, under the firm name of J. B. Graham & Son, he en- 
gaged in the drug business at Lynnville. In the meantime he 
taught school in winter, and studied medicine under Doctor S. 
L. Tyner. In 1876 he commenced practice in Spencer county, 
opposite Owensboro, Kentucky, where he remained one year. 
He also practiced at Folsomville one year ; after which he re- 
linquished medicine and engaged in school teaching. He taught 
the graded school, at Lynnville, in 1872-73, and has been prin- 
cipal of the Folsomville Graded School three terms. In 
1880, he was defeated in a candidacy for superintendent of War- 
rick county. He left the teachers' ranks as one of the foremost 
educators of the county, and, in July, 1881, assumed full edito- 
rial and business control of the Boonville Standard. Although 
he has now been in the newspaper business but a short time, he 
has evinced considerable journalistic ability. He has been a 
contributor to the educational periodicals of the State and is the 
author of a work designed for use as a text book for youthful 
students, entitled "United States Rectangular Survey," which 
has been highly recommended by the leading educators of the 
State. 



eim, Constantine, one of the leading citizens of Campbell 
township, was born February 25, 1837, in Eisfeld. Duchy 
of Meiningen, Germany. He received his education at the 
Academy of Saalfeld, which he attended from his sixth to his 
twelfth year. In 1852 his parents emigrated to America and 
came direct to Vanderburgh county. His father's avocation was 
that of an apothecary, and, in partnership with John Laval, he 
practiced medicine at Evansville about ten months. 

In 1853 he came to Warrick county and engaged in farm- 



162 Warrick and its Prominent People 

ing. January 6th, 1859, Constantine Heim was married to 
Minerva Lockyear, of Warrick county, and they had seven chil- 
dren. She died March 20th, 1874. Mr. Heim was married to 
Rhoba F. Herston on October 24th, 1874, and by this marriage 
has had three children. Mr. Heim has obtained an extraordin- 
ary knowledge of the English language by close application, 
and he speaks it with a fluency rarely met with in one of his 
nationality. Politically he is a Republican, and, in 1880, was 
the candidate of his party for treasurer of Warrick county, but 
was defeated by a greatly reduced majority. He is a very in- 
telligent gentleman, of a sociable, complaisant disposition, and 
he is highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens for his integrity and 
sterling worth. 



'eim, Adolph Woldemar, trustee of Campbell township, 
was born June 12, 1839, in Eisfeld, Duchy of Meiningen, 
Germany. He received his education at the Academy of Saal- 
feld, in his native country, but left before graduating. His pa- 
rents came to America in 1852, and located at Evansville, where 
the subject attended a select school awhile, taught by a Yankee. 
This was the only English schooling he received. In 1853 he 
removed with his parents to Warrick county, and engaged in 
farming. However, his occupation of later years has chiefly 
been teaching. He taught district school No. 9, in Camp- 
bell township, from 1866 until 1881, successively, which, in point 
of continuity, is without a parallel in the school history of the 
county. He holds the highest attainable license, and his teach- 
ing is characterized by thoroughness, practicability, system and 
strict decorum. In 1880 Mr. Heim was elected trustee of 
Campbell township on the Republican ticket. There were three 



Brief Biographies. 163 

candidates for the office, and although the township was largely 
Democratic, he received a majority of sixty-four, while the larg- 
est number of votes received by the opposition was ninety-four. 
He possesses in an eminent degree the qualifications requisite for 
the office, and fills it satisfactorily to his constituents. February 
19, 1864, Mr. Heim was married to Letitia Lockyear. They 
have four children — three boys and one girl. 



Wones, T. B. , M. D., of Lynnville, was born November 28th, 
fJJ 1 84 1, in Spencer county, Indiana. The occupation of his 
father, Thompson M. Jones, was farming. The subject receiv- 
ed his education in the schools of Spencer county and at an early 
age commenced the study of medicine. August 26, 1861, he 
enlisted in company C, of the forty-second Indiana regiment, as 
a private, but was promoted to the rank of captain while in the 
service. He participated in all the battles of his company and 
was in the service until July 2d, 1865, when they were mustered 
out. 

In 1867 he entered the Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati 
and graduated in 1870. During the same year he located at 
Pleasantville, Pike county, and practiced there until March, 
1873, when he removed to Lynnville and entered into a partner- 
ship with Dr. S. L. Tyner, which, with the exception of two 
years that the latter was at Boonville, has continued until the 
present. April 25, 1872, Doctor Jones was married to Emma 
Zimmerman, of Lynnville, and they have two children. Doctor 
Jones possesses in an eminent degree those qualities of mind and 
temperament which are required to meet humanity in its more 
delicate and sickly phases pleasantly, and his knowledge of med- 
icine is very thorough and practical ; hence, he is a very success- 



164 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

ful physician. He is regarded as one of the leading physicians 
of the county and is highly respected and beloved as a citizen. 



'cCoy, Joseph S., M. D., a successful medical practitioner 
of Wheatonville, Warrick county, was born April 6th, 
1850, near Midway, Spencer county, Indiana. His parents 
were William and Fanny McCoy. His education was princi- 
pally obtained in the common schools of Spencer county, and 
during the terms of 1868 and 1869 he attended the academy at 
Grandview, Indiana. He taught school in Spencer county one 
year, and in Warren county, Kentucky, eighteen months. He 
commenced the study of medicine under Dr. J. R. Temple, but 
afterward studied under his brother, Dr. T. J. McCoy. He 
entered the Louisville Medical College in 1873, and graduated 
in 1876. In the same year he commenced the practice of med 
icine at Wheatonville, where he has since remained. Doctor 
McCoy is a genial young gentleman, warm-hearted and courte- 
ous. His acquaintance is easily cultivated, and he possesses the 
rare gift of bringing social sunshine, as well as medical skill, into 
the sick room. During the five years he has been at Wheaton- 
ville he has built up a wide practice, and has won the esteem of 
the people. He is now only thirty-one years old, and his career 
as a practitioner may be said to be only in the bud. Politically, 
he is a Democrat, and is one of the most influential members of 
that party in Greer township. 



'oore, Robert Dale Owen, the youngest son of Judge J. 
W. B. Moore, was born in Boonville, February 25th, 
1848. His education was limited to such advantages as were 
afforded by the local schools at that time, which were compara- 



Brief Biographies. 165 

tively poor, owing, in part, to the unsettled condition caused by 
the war. However, he spent one year at Asbury University, at 
Greencastle, Indiana. In 1869, he commenced the study of law 
with his brother, Hon. Isaac S. Moore, one of the ablest law- 
yers in the State, and, in 1872, was admitted to a partnership. 
In 1878 he was nominated by the Democratic primary election 
for clerk of Warrick county, and was elected. Among the mi- 
nor offices which he has held was that of clerk of Boonville, in 
1869; town treasurer, from 1871 to 1875, an d town attorney 
two or three years. He was married to Blanche Barkwell, of 
Rockport, Indiana, January 23rd, 1868. They have three chil- 
dren — two boys and one girl. Mr. Moore is a liberal, obliging 
gentleman, and is generally well known and well liked through- 
out the county. Politically, he is, and has always been, a Dem- 
ocrat. He is one of the most active members of the party in 
this county, meriting by his untiring services the honorable rec- 
ognition which he has received. 



Patterson, William H., was born September 17th, 1847, 
five miles south of Boonville. His father, Rev. Nicholas 
M. Patterson, was one of the earliest Methodist preachers in 
this county, and was one of the old-time circuit riders. He was 
one of the most successful revivalists in his day, was a good 
man, and generally beloved. After receiving a common school 
education, William taught school to obtain money with which to 
attend college. He attended Asbury University, at Greencastle, 
Indiana, for a short time, but afterward entered the Rockport 
Collegiate Institute, where he graduated in 1870. He again 
engaged in school-teaching, and read law at home in the mean- 
time, Judge Isaac S. Moore being his preceptor. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1873. September 14th, of the same 



166 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

year, he was married to Emma Taylor, daughter ol Robert 
Taylor, Esq., of Boonville. Becoming financially embarrassed, in 
1875, ne accepted a position as principal of the graded school, 
at Poseyville, Indiana, at a salary of $75 per month. He taught 
Latin, higher mathematics, and the higher branches, which had 
never before been taught there, and gave general satisfaction. 
At the close of his school he returned to Boonville and again 
engaged in practicing law. In May, 1879, he entered into part- 
nership with John L. Taylor, and has been quite successful in his 
profession. He has twice held the office of attorney of Boon- 
ville, and one term as clerk. Mr. Patterson is very studious, and 
is one of the most promising young members of the Boonville 
bar. 



Pelzer, Frederick William, the subject of this sketch ,was 
born October 10th, 1843, at Osnabreck, Germany. His 
father was a blacksmith, and in good circumstances. After re- 
ceiving such common school education as was to be obtained in 
his native village, he served an appreticeship in his father's 
blacksmith shop. In i860 he emigrated to America, landing 
at New Orleans, and he came direct to Warrick county. He 
worked at his trade in Boonville, and on the farm, alternatively, 
until 1866, when he located where he now resides; and his resi- 
dence, by the way, is one of the finest and most convenient in 
the county. May 9th, 1872, he was married to Amelia Goett- 
lich, a native of Long Island. The result of this union has been 
five children. 

Mr. Pelzer belongs to the class of " self-made men," and is 
one of the most enterprising citizens of the county. The " His- 
tory of Warrick County," by D. J. Lake & Co., truly says : " He 



Brief Biographies. 167 

is one of the foremost in all public as well as private enterprises." 
He is well informed on the general topics of the day, and he is 
a very genial and pleasant gentleman. While he has always 
been an active member of the Republican party, he has never 
sought political favor. He is also a very prominent member of 
the Masonic order. He manifests a great deal of pride in the 
county's development and progress, and is one of the kind that 
makes a thrifty community. 



Ulman, Doctor J. R., of Newburgh, was born August 
8th, 1826, in Cumberland county, Kentucky. His grand- 
father was a native of Virginia and was born on a plantation 
adjoining Thomas Jefferson's home. The name at that time was 
spelled Tilghman. Doctor Tilman graduated at the Evansville 
Medical College in 1850 and at once commenced practicing at 
Taylorsville, Warrick county, where he remained seven years. 
He was instrumental in having a postoffice established at that 
place and was the first postmaster. After practicing in Newburgh 
three years he entered the Jefferson Medical College of Philadel- 
phia and graduated in i860. At the beginning of the late war he 
laid aside all business and devoted his time to the union cause. 
He was assistant surgeon in the sixtieth Indiana regiment and 
was seriously crippled for life, being compelled to resign after 
three months' service. Having the public interest always in view, 
he is one of the class of citizens who exert a marked influence 
for good in the community. 



'ilde, Gottfried Otto Eugene, son of Carl J. G. and 
Franziska Wilde, was born in Schlochow, Pomerania, 
Prussia, May 15th, 1842. His parents were very wealthy. He 



168 Warrick and its Prominent People. 

attended St. Peter's College at Danzig, Prussia, seven years, and 
graduated in 1858. He received a scientific education and i$ 
was here that he obtained his knowledge of chemistry. In 
1869 he emigrated to America and in' the winter of 1870 enter- 
ed into the drug business in Boonville in the building he now 
occupies. He was married to Mary Sasse in 187 1. Mr. Wilde 
is a leading member of the German Evangelical Lutheran church 
at this place and is a highly esteemed citizen. 



'hittinghill, Winfield Scott, was born October 28th, 
1850, in Pigeon township, Warrick county. He is the 
eldest son of Pleasant N. and Abagail J. Whittinghill. He 
worked on the farm with his father until twenty-one years old 
and was eighteen years of age before he started to school. His 
education has been obtained principally in the common schools 
of the county. He attended the Oakland Normal Institute at 
Oakland City, Indiana, three terms and also attended two terms 
of a select school taught at Taylorsville, Warrick county, by 
Prof. Will Link. During the winter of 1873 he took a thorough 
course at the Evansville Commercial College. When twenty-one 
years old he commenced teaching school and has since taught 
seven terms in all, three of which were at the graded school in 
Pigeon township and two terms as principal of the Taylorsville 
graded school. In 1876 he was the Republican candidate for 
assessor of Pigeon township and, although the township has 
always been largely Democratic, he was elected. In 1880 the 
Republicans nominated him for trustee, but this time he was 
defeated. Mr. Whittinghill is one of the foremost young men of 
his section and he possesses the ability and tact to accomplish 
almost anything he undertakes. ' 



Appendix. 



169 



APPENDIX. 



SHERIFFS OF WARRICK COUNTY FROM 
1813 TO 1883, INCLUSIVE. 



S. R. MARS. 
GULLILMUS WIGGINS. 
EPHRIAM BRASHEARS 
THEO. HUDSPETH. 
A. B. HUDSON.^ 
WILLIAM SCALES. 
NICHOLAS TAYLOR. 
BENONI S. FULLER. 
JOHN B. HUDSPETH. 
WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS.^ 
GURLEY TAYLOR, t 

JAMES W. CAMPBEI 



WILLIAM BRISCOE. 
MINOR LEEWRIGHT. 
WILLIAM BRISCOE.* 
JAMES C. GRAHAM. 
WILLIAM M. HUDSON.} 
CALVIN M. WILLIAMS. 
ISAAC W. ADAMS. 
WILLIAM P. HUDSON. 
WILLIAM P. HUDSON. 
DAVID L. HART4 
WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS. 
L, (present incumbent.) 



*Died before term of office expired. 
JTwo terras successively . 



170 



Warrick and its Prominent People. 



TREASURERS OF WARRICK COUNTY FROM 
1813 TO 1882, INCLUSIVE. 



RATLIFF BOON. 
*EPHRIAM BRASHEARS. 
JOHN McCONNEL. 
WILLIAM SCALES. 
EDWIN ADAMS. 
SIMON P. LOWE. 
JOSIAH BROWN, M. D. 
LEWIS J. MILLER. 
BRANNICK WILKERSON. 



JOSEPH ADAMS 
THOMAS HUDSPETH. 
EDWIN ADAMS. 
N. C. FOSTER. 
CALVIN M. WILLIAMS. 
ALVAH JOHNSON. 
JAMES H. MASTERS. 
W. J. HARGRAVE. 
HANSEL M. SCALES, 

(present incumbent.) 



*The three first treasurers were appointed, under the law in vogue at 
that time, by the board of county commissioners. 



Appendix. ' 171 



POPULATION OF WARRICK COUNTY. 
CENSUS OP 1880. 



ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, INCLUDING VIL- 
LAGE OF YANKEETOWN 912 

YANKEETOWN VILLAGE 178 

BOON TOWNSHIP, INCLUDING TOWN OF 

BOONVILLE , 4,668 

BOONVILLE 1,182 

CAMPBELL TOWNSHIP 1,536 

MILLERSBURGH VILLAGE 105 

GREER TOWNSHIP 1,214 

HARTTOWNSHIP 2,166 

LYNNVILLE VILLAGE 304 

LANE TOWNSHIP 1,165 

OHIO TOWNSHIP 3,413 

NEWBURGH 1,282 

OWEN TOWNSHIP i,"5'*7 

FOLSOMVILLE 194 

PIGEON TOWNSHIP 1,927 

SELVIN ........ 222 

SKELTON TOWNSHIP 1,644 

Total 20,160 



172 



Warrick and its Prominent People. 



COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT FOR 1880. 



Name of 
Townships 


e ^ . 
<u £; 00 

.2 g^S 
-♦^ 1^ 

H f S 
$2,277 68 


^ ■ 

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3<~^ 

ft3 a; 
CO ceo 

$ 588 86 




GO-£ 

O ft 
O 

> 

$ 3,000 


■6fe j 

_i 1 Value of Apparatus 

81 


— 1 Average wages of 
a Teachers. 

00 ! 


go 
~ 

IT 
5 

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c" 
4 


■1 

Eh 
1 

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4; 

6 
3 


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■-• 
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6 


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8,210 29 


3,923 93 


22,000 


400 


1 98 


20 


2 


21 










4,073 12 


1,595 26 
883 89 


3,810 


150 


1 90 


9 
6 


2 
2 


12 

8 


1 








2,223 32 


3,500 


300 
100 


1 74 










1,825 25 

488 58 


5,500 


1 66 


10 

7 

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8 


4 

1 
2 
3 
3 


12 

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L0 

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in 
11 






2,126 25 


1,550 


50 


1 78 




Ohio 


4,862 83 


2,980 54 

695 26 

863 38 

1,234 11 

1,995 29 


10,500 


200 


1 87 






2,834 36 
4,645 18 


2,500 


10 


1 80 










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1 87 
1 50 


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3,749 02 


5,000 












4,050 80 


20,000 


100 


2 55 


4 


3 


4 


1 






Newburgh 


4,155 87 


649 65 


10,000 


1,000 


2 47 


3 


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